Make Me Change
by Wolf's Spirit
Summary: Hitomi was kidnapped by Dilandau as a hostage. Now she's desperate to return home, but there's at least one man involved that doesn't necessarily want her to leave.
1. No One Gets Hurt

**Make Me Change**

A/N: Just to clear this up, I am a V/H fan. I just thought that something new wouldn't kill people. I get strange ideas when I'm sick and delusional, but hey, don't most people? Some of the characters (well, most actually) are OOC. Read and Review. I hope that you enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Escaflowne. I only write the occasional fanfic.

**Chapter 1: No One Gets Hurt**

Hitomi walked briskly to her lane and stepped into her starting blocks. Yukari wished her luck as she took her friend's warm ups and went to stand next to Amano.

"Give it all you've got, Hitomi!" Amano yelled.

The gun sounded and Hitomi shot out of her blocks before the other girls could even blink. Ten meters. Twenty meters. Thirty-what was that coming from the sky? Fifty meters-it was a blinding blue light, but still she kept running. Seventy meters-a person was descending from the light! How could this be possible? The other girls were catching up. The finish line! It was a boy that had come.

"Track!" she cried in a last attempt to get him to get out of her way. She bumped into him and he shoved her to the ground.

Yukari and Amano were there, helping her up. Then the officials came. Was something wrong?

"Get away from me, girl!" the boy spat.

The starter came down the track, his gun still in hand. The boy seemed to take it as a threat as the starter waved the gun in the air. He reached forth and jerked Hitomi away from Amano and Yukari. She screamed in pain as her captor brutally wound her arms up behind her back. The stadium was silent. Tears of pain began to come silently down the captive girl's face.

"Hitomi!" Amano and Yukari shouted as one, taking a step forward.

The boy stepped back, taking Hitomi with him. He drew a sword from his waist and put it to Hitomi's neck. "Get away from me!" the boy shouted in a husky voice. "Step back and no one will get hurt. If you take one step closer, then this one gets it." He nodded toward Hitomi. To show that he was serious, he pressed his blade harder to her neck and blood welled up. She gulped.

Everyone that stood remotely close to him and his captive moved away. Sirens came. The police had been called and they were on their way. Hitomi sobbed as the official sat down his gun and stepped forward, raising his hands in submission. The boy drew Hitomi up closer to him and cold metal bit deeper into the girl's throat.

"Take it easy, I don't mean any harm to you. Just let her go. We haven't done anything to harm you. If you let the girl go, there won't be any trouble," the old man said, his eyes held fear for the girl that this mad man held in his grasp.

"Get away from me, or she dies! I'm not bluffing!"

Hearing his serious tone, the starter stepped backward, never taking down his hands. The police came now, guns pointing in their direction.

"Down your weapons men! He has a captive!" roared one of the policemen.

Yukari hid her eyes with Amano's arm and began to sob. Why was this boy doing this? Madness shone in his wine colored eyes. "Please, don't let him hurt her!" Yukari sobbed aloud frantically. It was clear that she was upset and scared for her best friend.

"Everything will turn out fine, you'll see," Amano whispered, though even he wasn't convinced by the words that he'd spoken.

The police began to move forward. One of them held up a megaphone. "We have you surrounded! Let her go, and we'll let you go!"

"I, Dilandau Albuto, will submit to no one! You have no men behind me! The most you have is six in front of me!"

All of the policemen visibly gulped. How had he known how many of them that there were? Was he in tune with the other side? How would they get this girl out of harm's way?

"I want everyone out of this place, you hear me?" he hissed evilly in her ear. "Tell them to leave. If you don't, I'll kill you here and now."

Hitomi nodded feebly against the blade at her throat. She felt fear even when he moved his sword so that she could speak. "You have to clear everyone out," she rang out to Amano and Yukari.

They stared at her.

"Go! Get up to the announcer's booth and tell everyone to get out now. Hurry!"

Sensing the urgency and desperation in her voice, Amano and Yukari turned and ran into the stands, and up to the announcer's booth. It wasn't long before a shrill noise filled the area.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we must ask that you leave the stadium right away. Don't panic and please leave in an orderly fashion!" It was Amano's voice, but it was shaky. There was a hum as everyone stood and slowly walked out. There were many glances back toward the boys and the girl that he still held.

Hitomi's arms felt as though they would snap in two any moment. They ached and she wanted to be free. The sword lay against her neck, but even so, it's cold metal had still refused to become warm against her skin. She thought about this and nearly fainted when she felt heat begin to sear at her chest. She didn't dare to look down, for fear that the evil metal would bite too far down into her throat.

For a moment a pink light enshrouded the two and Hitomi heard her captor scream. The blue light came back and she was forced to shut her eyes against it. Even with her eyes closed, the light was almost too bright, but there was nothing else that she could do to block it.

Immediately, she felt as though she would throw up. She vaguely felt herself being lifted up from the ground. Her neck was finally freed from the blade, and her arms were finally released.

Darkness. Hitomi felt herself being yanked up and she came dizzily to her senses. At first her vision was blurry, but it soon cleared as she felt herself being half dragged by her hair. Where was she ? The pain became too immense to handle and she screamed.

"Let me go!" she cried as she kicked out. She was rewarded with a hiss and she was thrown once more to the ground.

"Watch how you behave, girl!" that boy, Dilandau, hissed.

Hitomi sat up on her knees and groaned. Her scalp hurt and her arms were sore. She looked down at her shirt. There was a small line of blood from where Dilandau's sword had bit her. She looked up to her captor. He had wine colored eyes and silver hair.

"Oh, come on. You're my age at least," she snapped, forgetting that she was in danger.

Dilandau growled and brutally dragged her up onto her feet. She flinched as she felt a slap land on her cheek. "Don't talk to me like you're above me. You are nothing but a woman." He twisted her arms behind her back once more and marched her forward.

Now she noticed that they were no longer at the Track Meet. They were some place that she had never seen before. Where was it? She looked up and wanted to scream. In the sky, in broad daylight, she spotted the moon; the moon was accompanied by the Earth. Was she having some sort of nightmare? She didn't think that was possible. She would have woken from this horror by now.

"Where are we?" Hitomi asked timidly before she could think to stay silent. She flinched and closed her eyes, waiting for the blow that she thought would come. She opened her eyes as she felt bright light-sunlight-hit them. It donned on her that they had been in a forest. They now stood in a clearing. In it's center there was a large structure that, to her, was shaped like a tooth. It seemed to be made of rock.

A smirk found its way onto Dilandau's face. "We are in my country. Zaibach. This is the levy ship called the Vione."

He kept marching her forward, closer and closer to the levy ship. The Vione.

"No, I mean, where are we? I see my planet it the sky. Why is that?" She heard her captor give an exasperated sigh.

"It's always been there. We are on Gaea. Now shut up."

Having her question answered, Hitomi complied with his demand. She was getting tired. How long had they been going on? Her arms felt as though they would fall off. He didn't care. He marched her closer and closer to his-was it his?- ship.

As they boarded, three men stood before Dilandau. They wore the same uniform, only in blue, not purple.

"Gatti, Shesta, Miguel." The men stood at attention. "Get this out of my sight. Take her to one of the cells." He shoved her toward them and left as they all gave a sharp salute.

Hitomi sighed with relief as her arms were able to go back into a normal position. One of the men, really they were also near her age, just as Dilandau was, grabbed her arm and a second grabbed her other. The third marched in front of them as they led her to their destination.

"He's not happy. I wonder where it was that he'd gone?"

"Best not to ask, Gatti. He's always in a bad mood. I don't suppose that it was a good place that he went to, if he brought back a foreigner."

"I wonder why he brought her back. He doesn't want her in his sight. Why bring her here if he doesn't want her for any reason?"

"Stay out of it, Miguel. If you poke around, Lord Dilandau will have our heads."

Hitomi was confused. Wasn't there a reason that she was here?

"Come on Shesta, don't be so eager to please Lord Dilandau." That was the one called Gatti.

"You may want to please him too, if you want to keep living."

"Would Lord Folken allow him to kill us?"

"We're his men, Miguel. I doubt that Lord Folken would care."

The one in the front looked straight back at Hitomi. "Where do you come from, Foreigner?"

"Don't pry, Miguel," Shesta warned, but Miguel didn't listen.

"Where did Lord Dilandau bring you from?"

All three of them had swords at their wastes. Hitomi gulped. "Earth."

All three looked confused. "Where's that?" they all asked at once.

"The blue moon in the sky."

All three paled. "He brought her from the Mystic Moon?" whispered Gatti. "The place is cursed. No wonder he isn't happy."

"Why'd he bring you back?" Miguel demanded, as he once more turned his attention to the halls in front of them.

"I don't know. I was racing, and a blue light appeared. He came down. The man who was running the race came forward and he grabbed me. He told everyone that he'd kill me if they didn't stay away. The blue light came back and then we were here." Fear showed in every one of her stuttered syllables.

They didn't ask her any more questions. They found their way to some sort of dungeon and the men locked her up. "If you behave, then no one gets hurt," they told her. As they were walking away, she heard them talk of how Dilandau would most definately kill her when she came to be too much of an annoyance.

"She won't last long," one of them said, but by that time they were too far away for her to discern which one had said it.

A/N: Wow. Just so you know, this story has changed a lot since I started writing it. (The first 5 chapters are done at this moment.) It's dramatically changed from the plot that I had first had in mind. To be honest, this is the only chapter that has remained the same as when I started writing. The rest have been deleted and rewritten several times. Hope you come back for the next chapter!


	2. Another Day Of Living

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

**Chapter 2: Another Day Of Living**

How long had it been? There was no light in her cell, and thus no way to tell how many days had passed, though it must have been quite a few. Once every so often, and Hitomi assumed that it was regularly, she was brought food, though it was never in enough quantity to completely curb her hunger and it was always almost enough to make her purge it involuntarily from her system. It was only the food that allowed her the knowledge that she had not yet been forgotten.

Eventually, and at first she wasn't sure whether it was night or day, Hitomi's cell door opened and torchlight flooded in, causing her to blink and cover her eyes with a bony hand. Rough hands seized her and dragged her outside. Her heart pounded and she feared that she was going to be brought to her death.

"Walk this way," commanded a familiar voice, though it was a few minutes before she placed it as one of the boys who'd brought her to the cell in the first place. When she stumbled, her guard just dragged her up without a word and kept going.

"What's going on?" Hitomi asked, her voice scratchy and quiet from disuse. At first she feared that he hadn't heard her. Another set of hands took her and she was just about to restate her question when he gave an answer.

"Lord Dilandau has requested that you be brought to him for questioning." His voice was solid, and Hitomi wondered if she'd really heard that small dash if pity that had emanated from it.

"You got us into trouble with this one last time Miguel," claimed another familiar voice, "don't do it again." She placed him as Shesta.

"I didn't get _us_ into trouble, I got _me_ into trouble, and it was only because Gatti had to be a loud mouth and blame everything on me, and then you just happened to back him up and all of us got a good smack."

"You'd do better to watch your tongue," Shesta snapped. "This one isn't going to be a bother much longer."

Hitomi's eyes adjusted and she could see that they were traversing a sunlit hall that opened off to brightly colored gardens. They brought her to a rough wooden door and knocked lightly, as though they really didn't want the occupant to notice their presence.

"Enter!" came the harsh voice from inside, one that made Hitomi flinch, and her guards did as they were told with a bow.

"We've brought the prisoner that you demanded, Lord Dilandau."

"Good," came his reply as he scrutinized her with wine colored eyes that made her want to look at the ground. "You're dismissed."

"Yes, Sir," the two said, and with one last bow they were gone again and Hitomi was getting the sense that she should be wishing to be with them.

Her heart was pounding. Dilandau sat before her pouring wine from a strangely shaped glass container into a goblet. There was a strained silence and she feared she would die if she were the one to interupt it. It was a difficult task to keep her hands from shaking. She looked about the room. It was made of cold gray stone and lit by strange candles that gave off a blue and purple light. They were darker than the candles she was used to and didn't hurt her eyes as the torches in the dungeon had.

"What is your name?" the albino finally asked, startling Hitomi even though the whisper could hardly be discerned.

"Hitomi," she mumbled quietly

"Where was that place I brought you from?"

"Earth," Hitomi whispered, just as quietly as before, though she doubted that she could have been any louder if she'd tried. Her throat itched and felt as dry as parchment.

A flash of anger passed over Dilandau's eyes. "You shouldn't lie about such things," he hissed coldly. "Your life very well may depend on them and I've never heard of such a place."

Hitomi didn't know what to do. She was silent for awhile, but when Dilandau began to draw his sword she remembered the cold bite of the steal and something clicked. "Someone called it the Mystic Moon," she whispered. "The blue moon in the sky. We call it Earth on that planet."

"Who told you that?" Hitomi's eyes grew wide as she tried to remember his name. Her guards had spoken about him today. "Think carefully," Dilandau warned.

"If I remember right, his name was Gatti." She flinched as Dilandau roared with rage.

"I knew he was lying! And he drug two of my best men into it." He seemed to calm for a moment and peered at his prisoner with icy eyes. "You'd best not be lying to me, you little wretch." She shook her head desperately and he chuckled. "Are you that afraid of me?" he wanted to know. Hitomi was struck speechless and could only nod. Dliandau laughed again. "Your caution has earned you another day of living." He pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling and a knock came quickly to his door. It was Miguel who entered. "Take her back to her cell and send Gatti to me immediately. We have much to talk about."

"Right away, Lord Dilandau," Miguel said with a bow, and hurried Hitomi from the room before anything else could be said.


	3. A Little More Rational

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

**Chapter 3: A Little More Rational**

Hitomi was awakened from her slumber by a clamoring outside of the hall. It was muffled, but the words that the voices were forming were said loud enough outside to be coherent to her. She scooted toward the door, hoping to make them clearer still. The ones making the noise were obviously mad about something.

"She's a scheming little bitch!" one voice yelled, taking her aback by the rough language. Her memory told her that the one speaking was Shesta. He'd always sounded cautious before, but now his voice held only rage.

"We can't do it, Shesta," the other voice said, sounding a little more calm, though not by much. She recognized the speaker as Miguel.

"Oh yes we can!" Shesta shouted, obviously not caring who did or didn't hear his aggressive words. "That little whore got Gatti killed! She deserves the same fate!"

"If we kill her, Lord Dilandau will be angry. We'll end up in the same place that Gatti did." Miguel was sounding a little more rational than his companion, but that wasn't helping her. If this ended badly, she'd wind up dead, and not by the hands that she'd been told would do her in in the first place.

"We'd be doing him a favor! She's been nothing but a thorn in his side for two months. All she's doing is causing him unease. That's why it took him so long to find the nerve to question her. She's better off dead."

Had she really been there for two months already? Time seemed to pass in a daze staying in the same dark room every minute of every day.

"Lord Dilandau does what suits his taste. If that girl had caused him so much discontentment, she'd be dead by now. He's got plans for her, and in those we can't interfer. Just leave it."

The voices stopped and footsteps receeded down the hall. Hitomi made her way back to the corner she'd taken to staying in and pondered what sort of plans Dilandau had in mind for her. They couldn't be anything good. He was one to be feared and not one to trust, that much she knew for certain.

Dilandau sent for her again later. She was fairly certain that it was only a few hours after the uproar she'd heard in the hall. A woman was with her escort this time and she remained silent as she led Hitomi into a room just off to the side of the stairs that led to the dungeons. The guards waited for them outside.

"Be quick dear," the lady said as she showed Hitomi a tub of steaming water. "You don't want to keep the Lord waiting. He's a very impatient man." Hitomi had to bite back a retort; wanting to say that he was hardly a man and that she looked much older than Dilandau was. She decided that angering his servants would only do to anger him in the future.

Even after a quick scrub and a change of cloths Hitomi felt better than she had for sometime. Her guards, which she had been surprised to find were neither Shesta or Miguel, led her on to Dilandau's study. The woman, having completed her job, went back to work elsewhere. Dilandau looked her over with a scrutinizing eye before looking over the papers that he stood over once more.

"You seem to have some of my men in quite an uproar," he told her coldly, never looking away from his reports and maps.

Hitomi was unsure if she was supposed to reply or not, so she remained silent. He flicked her a glance before turning to pick up a quill and make some sort of notes in the margins of one of his papers.

"Gatti admitted to everything, though it took me awhile to get it out of him. I had half a mind to do the same to the others that were involved, but I couldn't kill all three of my best Dragon Slayers. I think the one was enough. Do you agree or do you think my men will need more examples to tell them not to pry in my personal business?"

Hitomi shook her head and he laughed.

"Was that a yes or a no I wonder? What's the matter, Hitomi?" he asked coldy. His voice made her shiver. "Cat got your tongue? I can always cut it out for you if you'd like." She didn't say anything and he looked her in the eyes for a minute, seeing her fear as he did so. "I wonder if you have any other information that would be useful to me?"

Hitomi heard it as a question and realized that she'd best answer. "I don't know, and neither will you, unless you ask, Lord Dilandau," she said, hoping that he wouldn't think her too bold.

He merely gave another bone chilling laugh. "True enough, but what sort of questions should I ask? The only useful questions are the right ones."

Hitomi fought the urge to say that she neither knew or cared. She doubted that she held anything else that would be of use to him.

"Miguel and Shesta guard you. What sort of things do you hear from them?" he asked, though by his tone she knew that he really didn't care about her answer.

"Not much, unless they're loud enough for it to pass through stone and thick wood. Did you know that they wish to kill me?" she asked, almost immediately wishing that she hadn't said anything at all, but wondering if he would permit such an action. He'd already killed Gatti based on the things she'd said to him in the past.

He gave her a look that she couldn't describe. "I suppose they would. Gatti seemed to be close with them. I doubt that they would wish to risk killing one of my personal prisoners, though, no matter how angry they appeared to be."

Hitomi gulped, unsure of what to say.

"Is the Mystic Moon really cursed?" he asked suddenly, as if he'd somehow heard everything that Miguel and Shesta had been saying. "That's what everyone here believes."

"No. We have a different type of technology from the little I've seen here, but we're not cursed. At least, I don't think so."

Dilandau looked as though he was going to speak, but a quiet knock on the door of his study disturbed him. "Enter!" he shouted, sounding angry at the prospect of being interrupted.

A soldier entered, wearing the same uniform that Miguel and Shesta wore, but it wasn't a man that Hitomi recognized. He looked nervous as he gave a bow. It was clear that he wasn't bearing good news and that he was trying not to fidget.

"Dallete! Can't this wait?" Dilandau demanded. "I'm questioning a prisoner."

The soldier flicked Hitomi a glance and gave a smirk that lingered for a mere second before vanishing as though it had never been there. He shook his head. "It's important Lord Dilandau. Lord Folken himself has sent me to give you the report."

"Give it then and be quick about it," he snapped, clearly not wanting to hear news that wasn't to his liking. Dallete looked at Hitomi, as though he doubted that he could give the information with her in their presence. "She doesn't matter. I gave you an order, Soldier."

With another bow, he proceeded. "Lord Folken says that King Van is on the move. His men are headed for Asturia, most likely to seek an alliance. It will mean the end of us if he gets the King's support. They are allied with at least three other countries that would willingly help against the Zaibach empire."

A bottle of wine sitting on Dilandau's desk flew across the room, shattering against the stone and missing Dallete by a fraction of a hair. He flinched and held a horrified expression before managing to school his face to indifference.

"Damn him. He'll have Allen Schezar and the rest of them knocking at our door by the end of the week. What does Folken intend for me to do about it?"

"He wants you to stop it, Lord Dilandau. If his brother defeats Emperor Dornkirk, he claims that it will be the end of you. He says that you can complete the task however you wish, so long as it gets done."

"Get out of my sight," Dilandau growled, scaring Hitomi more than she'd ever been before. She only wished that _she_ could leave his presence.

Dallete bowed one last time and left, looking somewhat relieved that he was able to leave alive. It made Hitomi wonder if Dilandau killing soldiers was a daily occurrence. Hitomi stood in silence for some time before Dilandau acknowledged her once more. He seemed somewhat calmer, but Hitomi wasn't willing to risk her life for it. She gulped.

"You'll be moved from the dungeons, I think," Dilandau said as he examined her pale and boney frame. "You may go. Have the guard outside escort you back. I'll see about a different arrangement for you momentarily."

Hitomi opened her mouth to thank him, but he merely pointed to the door. She gave a slight curtsy to show her gratitude and left him, glad to be out of his presence. She told the guard Dilandau's orders, bracing herself for the laughter that she thought she would recieve. Instead, he nodded brusquely and took her back down to the dungeons, never laying a hand on her as her guards had done in the past. It made her wonder what had changed.


	4. A Knock On The Door

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

**Chapter 4: A Knock On The Door**

Dilandau was true to his word, and Hitomi was surprised. She'd thought he'd forgotten about it. He'd made that promise weeks ago. At least, she thought it was weeks ago. Maybe it had only been a few days. Miguel and Shesta had arrived to escort her, neither looking happy about it. She wondered where they would be taking her and she asked as much.

"One of the rooms in the wing that isn't occupied," Miguel told her, and that was all either of them would say to her.

Although it was silent, there wasn't a speck of dust in sight throughout the entire wing. The paintings along the hall were perfectly aligned and not a strand of thread on the hanging tapestries was out of place.

The room that they opened up to her was sparsely decorated, and though smaller than Dilandau's study, seemed larger than any room in her house on Earth. It was made of stone, like every other room that she'd seen in her few experiences outside of the dungeon cell she'd been kept in. The only lighting that she could see were two tall black poles in the corners of the room, and a small window that showed it well into the afternoon. On top of the poles stood bowls of oil which gave off the same blue and purple flames that she'd seen in Dilandau's study. Though the lighting was dim compared to that which Dilandau had had, it was still enough to see by.

"Why isn't this wing occupied?" Hitomi asked quietly.

"We don't even know that," Miguel told her as he and Shesta turned to leave. "The only ones permitted here, unless specific permission is given, are Lord Dilandau, Lord Folken, Master Jajuka, and Emperor Dornkirk if he should ever come to call."

The only name that Hitomi was able to recognize was Dilandau's, but she gave a nod, hoping to show that she understood. The door was almost closed when it suddenly burst open again, as though the two Dragon Slayers had forgotten to mention something that was extremely important.

"If you need anything, you are to call for Master Jajuka. If he's busy with Lord Dilandau, or if he can't meet up with your needs then you may call for one of the handmaidens. There will be two guards outside of your door at all times starting within the hour. You are not to leave this room unless you are ordered to do so by Lord Dilandau," Shesta told her, and with a nod of finality to door was closed sharply behind him.

Hitomi let out a low whistle, and suddenly thought to wonder if she were supposed to be silent outside of voicing her needs. Not that she had anything to be loud about, and she wondered if the guards outside would have heard the whistle she'd let out. Everyone here seemed to be extremely uptight, but she couldn't blame them, what with a leader such as Dilandau; he scared her senseless.

She hadn't been left alone for long before there was a knock on the door. She opened her mouth to tell the knocker to enter, but the door was already opening. Turning, she found her visitor to be a strange lion-like figure wearing the same uniform as Dilandau's men. Her heart pounded with fear, but she managed to nod a greeting. He bowed, seeming to be sincere in the gesture, and blinked in surprise.

"You may call me Jajuka," he told her. "I will be at your disposal, Lady Hitomi."

Hitomi blinked again, confused as to why he would be calling her Lady and gathered enough courage to ask as much.

"That is how we are to address you, by Lord Dilandau's orders, my Lady."

"I see," she answered, though she had no clue why Dilandau would want her to be given such a title.

Jajuka gave another short bow. "Lord Dilandau wishes to see you within the hour. Is there anything that you will require before you meet with him?"

Hitomi hesitated for a moment and nodded. "There was a maid that served me once before. Is there any way that she can come help me?"

"I will see to it immediately, Lady Hitomi. If she can't be found, I will send for another, if that will suit you."

"That would be fine."

He nodded and left quickly, whispering something to the guards posted outside as he closed the door. It was barely fifteen minuets before the door opened to reveal the tired looking woman who had taken care of her before.

"How may I be of service, my Lady?"

"I'm supposed to see Lord Dilandau within the hour. I'd like you to help me freshen up."

The maid nodded. "No problem at all, Miss. I'll just go get a few things and be back promptly."

Hitomi stopped her just as she turned to go. "What name do I call you?"

"Laura," she answered, and she was gone and back before Hitomi could blink twice.

In her arms she held a small tub filled with a kettle of water, soap, a towel, and fresh cloths. Pouring the water into the wooden tub, she looked at Hitomi with something a lot like regret.

"I didn't have time to get hot water, Miss, but this should do to wash your hair and your face."

"That's fine," Hitomi answered, thinking that she could simply pretend that it was lake water.

She dunked her head under and began to scrub vigorously at her scalp. When her hair was clean, she wrung it out and Laura wrapped the towel tightly around it with deft fingers. Moving on to her face, Hitomi moved quickly, unsure of how much time she had left. Using the edge of the towel to wipe her face dry, she moved across the room to the bed, where Laura held up a soft blue dress. Hitomi changed quickly, for the room was chilly and she felt the beginnings of goose bumps on her flesh.

The dress was a little loose, but still made her look more like the Lady that Dilandau demanded that she be called. Removing the towel from her head, Hitomi combed out her hair with her fingers and let Laura arrange it in a bun, which was difficult given that Hitomi's hair was hardly longer than her chin.

"I will tell the guards that you're ready for them to escort you," Laura told her with a curtsey. "I think that Lord Dilandau will be pleased with you."

"I hope so. I don't want his anger to be taken out on me."

A/N: I'm so happy that this story is doing well! It may even be doing better than Club Escaflowne. It's come to my attention that I've made a large discrepency in the next chapter, but I don't want to have to rewrite the whole chapter in order to fix it. I like to update as soon as possible. Dilandau meets Hitomi in a garden, but seeing as to they're on the Vione, that would be impossible. Let's just say that the Vione landed and there was a garden present. Once again I'm sorry, but hey! At least I caught it myself, right? Please come back for the next update! Don't hate me.

-WS ;p


	5. How You Got Here

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

**Chapter 5: How You Got Here**

Hitomi wasn't led to Dilandau's usual study. Instead, Dilandau met her in one of the lush gardens. When she first stepped out of the stone building, the sun blinded her. Closing her eyes against the brilliance, she unconsciously let her hands cover her eyes. The guards stopped, hesitation showing on their faces. They waited, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden amount of unaccustomed light.

Blinking, she was finally able to open her eyes and look about her surroundings, also taking time to glance at her pale, bony hands. Looking at them alone almost made her want to close her eyes again, but she stopped herself, instead wondering exactly how long she'd been kept in the dark, away from her family and friends. She knew that they must be incredibly worried about her, not being able to find her for so long.

Once she had adjusted to the light, the guards continued on, leading her through the miraculous maze. The gardens were thick and green. Blossoms of every size and color speckled the grounds in a carefully placed array. Everything from roses to tulips competed for her attention, and she had to wonder why Dilandau would want to meet her here of all places. Certainly a stone study was more his kind of place than a garden was.

"I thought that you might need some light after being locked up for so long," Dilandau offered when he sighted her, sounding pleasant, which made her shudder without thought. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you," she answered, still trying to pick out his motive for bringing her here. "It's quite beautiful out here."

"I thought you might be more comfortable here rather than inside. You'll be allowed to come here whenever it suits you, so long as Jajuka is free to attend you."

"Thank you. I think that I will enjoy that," Hitomi replied. She sighed, figuring that having a single guard to accompany her would be much less pressing than having two always at her back.

"I assume the room you were placed in is to your satisfaction?" That was definitely more of a question that a statement.

"Yes. It's much more pleasant," she told him, hoping that it wouldn't incite his wrath. She made a mental note to work on thinking things through more before she actually spoke in Dilandau's presence. "How long have I been here?" she asked, hoping that she could distract him from her last statement.

"I'd say it must be at least a good three months." He sounded rather neutral, as though he couldn't care either way if she'd been there long or not.

Hitomi stayed silent, but her mind was screaming. She hadn't been quite willing to think that she'd been here _that_ long. For all she knew her family thought her dead by now, for all Dilandau hadn't demanded any sort of ransom for her. At least, no ransom that she knew of.

She examined Dilandau closely, attempting to gauge what sort of mood he was in before she voiced aloud her next question. He seemed pleasant enough at the moment, but she already knew from her limited experiences that his moods changed very quickly.

"I don't suppose that you'd be allowing me to go home any time soon?" she wondered aloud, hoping that he wouldn't suddenly become angry with her.

He stared at her with an icy gaze for awhile before he burst out into laughter. She almost demanded to know what he thought was so funny, but she managed to hold her tongue.

"Hitomi, I don't even know how you got here in the first place."

All she could do was blink. She could believe what she'd just heard. He'd taken her as a hostage and threatened her life, but bringing her here was an accident? "And I suppose that getting to my world was an accident to?" She didn't even bother trying to cover up her sarcasm. She doubted that she could have done a very good job of it at that time anyway.

"Yes."

Hitomi stared. She hadn't really expected him to tell her that everything about the circumstances that had brought her here had all been a coincidence. "You're not serious!" she protested, even though she knew that Dilandau was not the joker type.

"Of course I'm serious. I got separated from my men in battle. I was ambushed and the blue light that brought us here happened to take me there."

"I see." But she knew that she sounded rather disappointed. She somehow had the feeling that if this were anyone other than Dilandau that she was speaking to, she'd burst into tears and beg them to help her get home. At the same time, she thought she could understand why he'd been so hostile that day at the Track Meet.

A group of soldiers filed into the garden and prevented Dilandau from saying anything further. Instead, he nodded to the guards who'd escorted her. They slipped into the group and were replaced by two new ones, who looked relieved.

"I'm sorry to cut this short. The duties of war call."

She followed the guards back, thinking that it didn't seem as though there was a war going on at all. She recognized one of the guards as Dallete, looking more tired and wary than before, but the other she had never seen.

If either of them noticed her begin to cry for the fear that she would never make it home, neither said anything, but opened the door to her room for her when they reached it and shut it tightly behind her.


	6. Punished For Negligence

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

**Chapter 6: Punished For Negligence**

It had been days since Hitomi had last seen Dilandau, and she was relieved at the thought. She wasn't sure she could handle herself in his presence yet after he'd told her that he'd brought her here by mere accident. All of her thoughts were directed towards home, and how she might get there. With guards ever present, she knew that running away wasn't an option.

Even with her new privilege of seeing the gardens, she hadn't felt like leaving her room. Jajuka had come to check on her every few hours, no doubt reporting to Dilandau every time. He asked her if she'd like to go out, but she always answered no, afraid of seeing Dilandau and not being quite sure of what she would do if she did.

Laura was usually the one that brought her food to her, as well as fresh clothing and anything else that she required, though more often than not, the trays of food were returned uneaten. It wasn't that the food was bad; they were actually taking better care of her now than they had been, but for some reason she couldn't eat. She just didn't feel hungry.

After staying locked up for two weeks without hardly a bite to eat, both Jajuka and Laura came to call one day. Hitomi thought that this was odd, because she couldn't ever recall seeing them together at the same time.

"She hasn't been eating, and I'm sure some fresh air would do her good, Master Jajuka," Laura told him, looking at Hitomi with a squinting eye. She didn't pay attention to them, short of a welcoming nod. She was tired and all she wanted to do was sleep.

"My Lady," Jajuka said firmly. "Lord Dilandau wishes you to be taken care of. His servants do not want to be punished for negligence."

Hitomi looked at him with tired eyes. "They aren't being negligent, and I would tell him as much, if I cared to see him." She new that she probably sounded rude, but she didn't feel well, and her head was starting to ache.

"What you say wouldn't matter," he said, his voice never wavering. "You should know by now that Dilandau forms his own conclusions, with or without the testimony of others. Will you come with me, please, my Lady?"

Hitomi would have said no, but it was obvious that she was going to have no choice in the matter. Jajuka placed a gentle hand around her upper arm, though it was strong enough that she couldn't pull away, and began to lead her towards the door.

The guards looked like they were about to follow, but Jajuka gestured for them to stay at their post. "Tell anyone who comes to call that Lady Hitomi is with me in the gardens." They nodded and gave a salute. Laura looked satisfied and went about her chores, knowing that Hitomi was in good hands.

"I really don't want to go out," Hitomi protested as Jajuka guided her through the halls, not wanting to see the land that was keeping her away from her home.

"I'm afraid that you don't have a choice. Lord Dilandau would have my head if he found out that you were falling ill while under my care. You need to get some sunlight. I think it will be beneficial for you to come out daily, at least until it gets cold, and it will by next month." He looked over her skinny frame. "You'll have to start eating again to, whether you feel like it or not."

Although she didn't want to admit it, the sun did make her feel a little better, and it was a nice change to see some bright colors. Jajuka released her arm and let her wonder about freely, hovering behind her to make sure she didn't try anything that wouldn't please Dilandau.

Jajuka hadn't quite rounded the corner that Hitomi had just turned, when he heard a shriek. He hurried to get to Hitomi and found her leaning against a large hedge, one hand to her heart and trying to catch her breath. He saw Dilandau looking just as shocked and figured that they must have been attempting to turn the same corner at the same time.

"I'm sorry!" Hitomi cried, sounding as though she was starting to panic.

"Leave us, Jajuka," he commanded, sounding somewhat irritable, but Jajuka assumed that was more from the shock of Hitomi's sudden appearance than from true anger. Giving a salute and a bow, Jajuka turned the way he'd come and walked away.

There was a heavy silence and all Hitomi wanted to do was break it. "How did war duty go?" she asked, not knowing what else to call it. It was the first thing that had come to her mind.

"I just returned yesterday," he answered, not sounding thrilled. "We captured that Fanelian king and the armor that he's been using lately. Folken was pleased. I've sent Miguel with a message to Emperor Dornkirk about it."

Hitomi had to wonder why the king's armor would be so important rather than the person himself. "It seems like it's a bother to you. Why do you put up with it?"

"That's none of your business!" Dilandau screeched, lashing out with his gloved hand and striking Hitomi across the face.

Tears welled up in Hitomi's eyes, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand, while the other rested on her swelling cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered hoping that he would calm down and let her leave.

The anger left his eyes and he stared down at the hand that he'd used to strike her; clenching it into a fist and relaxing it, over and over again. "You were out of line." There was a long silence between them, Hitomi not daring to say anything, and Dilandau not knowing what to say.

"You don't look well," he finally said, after looking her over. "You haven't been eating, have you?"

"Not really," she answered, not wanting to say more for fear of angering him.

"Why not? Zaibach has some of the top cuisine to be found on Gaea. Is it not settling with you?"

Hitomi was amazed at his ability to forget how angry he'd been before and simply start talking as though nothing had happened. "It's not that. I think that I just miss home." She wanted to get away from the topic of home, knowing for sure that she would say something in this area that wouldn't make him happy.

"I think that Lord Folken misses home sometimes as well," he answered with a sympathetic nod.

She hadn't taken Dilandau for a sympathetic person. "He's not from Zaibach?"

Dilandau shook his head. "He was from Fanelia, but something happened to him, and he left. The Emperor found him and had him taken care of, and now he's a Zaibach citizen."

Hitomi nodded, wondering if he knew the Fanelian king at all. She knew that she wanted to see Dilandau's prisoner, if only to see what members from another country looked like here. She wanted to know if they spoke the same language, and what sort of treaties they made with each other.

"What are you going to do with this prisoner? Will he help you win the war?" she asked, also wanting to know exactly what the war was being fought over.

"Lord Folken decides what we do with prisoners, especially this one. Dornkirk will take over at some point I'm sure."

"Would I be allowed to see him?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and another blow landed, this one in her left eye.

"The only one who will be permitted to see him is Lord Folken, unless otherwise specified by him. It's not your business to get involved in."

No more was said between them, even after Hitomi had stopped her tears from falling once more. Dilandau pulled her roughly back to the castle, ordering the first guard that he found to escort her back to her room while he sought out Lord Folken.


	7. The Bite Of Steel

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Okay, I know that I was a little mean with the whole Hitom/Dilandau situation in the last chapter, but one of the readers did ask for a little lemon…or was that at the other site I'm on? Either way, some people will be happy with this chapter. Some of the character requests are coming in!

**Chapter 7: The Bite Of Steel**

The lamps were out when Hitomi awoke. Looking out the window, she could see that it was still dark outside. Not many people would be up at this hour. She could tell that her face was swollen. It hurt to blink, or even touch it in the slightest. Neither Jajuka nor Laura had seen her yet, and she really didn't want them to. They wouldn't have been able to do much anyway; certainly not get a restraining order.

She thought of Yukari and Amano, and about what they would have done. Yukari would have gone straight to the police, while Amano would have hunted Dilandau down and beat him black and blue. Her father would have wanted to shoot him, while her mother would have taken her to the hospital to make sure that it wasn't serious, no matter how loudly she protested. She had a feeling that her little brother Mamaru would have wanted to help Amano in some way or another.

Heaving a sigh, she sat up and went to the wardrobe that had been placed there sometime after her visit with Dilandau. An apology maybe? She had no idea. She'd witnessed and read about abusive relationships. She didn't want to be in one. His behavior only made her want to get away sooner. If he did it one day, he would do it again on another. Opening the heavy wooden doors, she pulled out a dress of pale green satin. The sleeves were short, and she realized that they would show off the bruises that she'd received on her right arm when Dilandau had dragged her back inside the castle.

Once dressed, without bothering to call for Laura, she rearranged her hair, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. She was too awake for that. There was food still sitting out from her dinner, but she still had no urge to eat it. It would be too cold to eat now anyway, even if she were hungry.

A commotion outside brought her back to reality. She found it strange that it should be so loud outside, for a wing that hardly anybody entered. It had never been that loud before, most especially not this late at night. There was screeching outside of her door and she had to wonder what it was.

Blows were landing against the door and she hastily looked for somewhere to hide. The only thing that offered her shelter was a darkened corner. Quickly she ducked into the shadows, just as the door was removed completely from its hinges and landed where she'd been only seconds ago.

"Search it!" came a commanding voice; not one that she was familiar with. "We have to find Van quickly."

Out of fear, Hitomi clutched at her necklace and prayed, hoping that, whoever these men were, they wouldn't kill her. There was the sound of other doors being knocked down as well, and the sound of several footsteps. She knew that the screams she heard were from those living out their last moments.

"Yo, Boss!" came a rather shrill, but male, voice. She looked up and saw a rather skinny, but lightly armored man standing over her. He yanked her up and dragged her to the door, thankfully by the arm that didn't sport tender bruises. "Look what I found! Seems to be a Zaibach Lady."

Red light shot forth from the pendent around her neck, and all she could feel was the heat. Blue light surrounded her instead of the red that one would expect, and she could feel herself being lifted off the ground. The urge to vomit filled her once more and all she could think of was that this was the light that was going to bring her home.

When Hitomi opened her eyes, she was disappointed. She found herself in another dark room, sore from landing on stone. Outside, the fighting was quieter so she knew that she had simply landed in another part of Dilandau's domain. There was movement beside her, and it caused her to jump.

"Who are you?" demanded and unfamiliar young voice. It was accompanied by the sound of a sword being drawn. Most everything was unfamiliar to her these days. "How did you get here? What's going on?"

Once again she felt the bite of steel on her neck, a feeling that she found she hadn't missed at all. One of the strange lamps was lit, somehow without the sword leaving her neck. Immediately she was faced with a dark haired boy with wine colored eyes.

"I'm Hitomi," she answered, hoping he would remove the steel from her neck. "I don't know how I got here. I was in a different wing, the one that the intruders are in. One found me and then I was surrounded by blue light. I don't know why I came here. I thought that I was going to go home."

The sword was in fact removed. "The crest on your dress. It's Dilandau Albuto's. I'd know it anywhere. How do you know him? Did he give you those bruises, or some other man under his command?"

She hadn't even realized that the dresses she'd been wearing had crests on them, but she looked and realized that this stranger was telling the truth. "He did it. He's the one that brought me here. I was a hostage. Who are you? I haven't seen you before. Are you one of the…" she had to think a minuet to remember the term for Dilandau's soldiers. "Dragon Slayers?"

The boy spat in disgust. "No. I'd die before becoming one of them. I'm Van Fanel."

Hitomi blinked. Fanel was the majority of the country name Fanelia. She wondered if this was the king that Dilandau had been so successful in catching. He didn't look like a king. He looked more like a peasant from the medieval movies she'd seen back on Earth. The only thing out of the ordinary about him was his sword, which she knew the poor could have, but not at not at that quality.

"You said there were intruders. Did you see any of them?"

"One. He tried to drag me out of the room Dilandau put me in. He thought that I was a Zaibach Lady."

"What did he look like?" He seemed eager to know, so she struggled to recall the features that she'd only gotten a glance of before she'd been…relocated.

"He was sort of tall. Thin and gangly, wearing a hat. His hair was about as dark as yours. I think his eyes were brown. He was wearing some armor. He started calling for his boss. That's all I can remember."

Van's wine colored eyes started to dance and he moved over quickly to listen at the door. "That would be Reeden, and I'm pretty sure that means that Allen and the others are with them."

Hitomi could only nod, thinking that this must be a good thing if he wasn't slicing her into a thousand tiny pieces.


	8. A Touchy Subject

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. (Are we getting tired of the repetition yet? ;p)

A/N: This chapter is unfortunately a bit shorter than all of the others, and I know that it may irritate some of the readers, but hey, at least it's a chapter, right? Here are some of the other characters that I know some of you have been hoping and expecting to see. Thanks to all of you who've been reading and giving me the constructive criticism. I'll really be trying to add some longer chapters in the future; it's just really hard for me with all of the characters. I'm not used to writing with so many at one time.

**Chapter 8: A Touchy Subject**

A sudden rise in noise caused Van to pull Hitomi away from the door just in time. It flew off its hinges, and broke in two as it hit the floor, showing that it wasn't as strong as the door that had been attached to her room.

Two men stood in the doorway, many more running amok outside, knocking down doors, and looting rooms. Zaibach soldiers were running around in confusion, some killed on the spot, and others being engaged in battle.

"Allen! Gaddess!" Van exclaimed, and Hitomi could tell that he was happy to see them.

"Van, there you are. We've been looking for you. Come on. We've got to get out of here before reinforcements start to come in."

The speaker was a tall blonde. His hair was almost down to the floor and Hitomi couldn't help but note that his face looked exactly like Amano's. She's just opened her mouth to ask if by some miracle he knew or was related to Amano, when his attention was drawn to her, by way of her standing.

"Who's this?" the blonde wanted to know. The darker haired man next to him squinted at her, and Van pulled her into better light.

"Her name is Hitomi. She's a prisoner of Dilandau's. A hostage of some sort. I think that we need to get her out of here. It's obvious that Dilandau hasn't been treating her very well," Van informed them.

"She looks like the one Reeden described, Commander. He said she disappeared. Something to do with a blue light."

This made the blonde nod his head, but he clearly looked confused. "How could she disappear, only to end up with Van? He was down a different wing than she was, and the other wing was more for scientific use. If she's Dilandau's hostage and she was hidden somewhere down there, then she has to be important."

The blonde looked at her with kind eyes and addressed her. "How did you get here?"

She blinked. He sounded older than Amano did. "I'm not sure. It was the same light that brought Dilandau to my world and then brought us here."

There was an increase in screaming down the hall. "Allen, there's no time for this. We have to go, the reinforcements are coming, and I still have to find Escaflowne," Van told the blonde.

Gaddess addressed Van's concern as they exited the room and started to jog toward escape, which Hitomi found increasingly difficult due to the restraining skirts of her dress. "It's been located with their melef units. Half of our team has been relocating it to the Crusade. We may have to help them finish the job, but I think that most of our men finished searching their areas and moved down to help. Keep in mind that it's been difficult for them because they can't get inside."

"I'll have you all reimbursed once Fanelia's been rebuilt and put back on her feet, thank you very much."

He sounded as though talking of his country was a touchy subject, but Hitomi could only begin to guess that something bad had happened if it had to be rebuilt. She wondered how long it would take to rebuild an entire country here, especially with the lack of technology that she had in her world that helped to speed up the process.

Her thoughts became distracted as her legs began to ache. It made her remember that she hadn't been able too run since she'd been brought here. Her breathing became hard and she began to come to the realization that she was drastically out of shape. She began to fear that if she couldn't keep up with them, they would end up leaving her behind. Quickly she decided that being out of shape was a sore subject for her, because in all of her life she couldn't once remember being in such a weak condition.

"Are you all right?" Van asked, though it was more of a sigh, because he was as out of breathe as she was. "You're looking pretty pale."

"Fine. I just haven't had to opportunity to run for three months or so." She hoped she hadn't sounded to bitter, especially when he was going out of his way to be polite.

Allen stopped them abruptly at the largest wooden door that she'd ever seen in her life. He motioned them to silence, which was a good thing because Hitomi could tell that Van had been about to say something. She also had the feeling that it hadn't been a nice thought, so she gave Allen her silent thanks.

"Everyone should have met inside by now. If it's locked then we know that something bad has happened. They'll have left us behind, I'm sure but they'll gather reinforcements and come back if necessary."

It took all of them to open the door enough for them to slip through, though they had insisted that Hitomi didn't need to help since it was clear that she wasn't feeling very well. She'd shaken them off and insisted on helping in some way. It was the least that she could do to get away from Dilandau.

Hitomi was amazed to see large constructions sitting on large chairs throughout the entire room. She felt like an ant compared to them, but the others with her seemed to be used to these things and quickly moved inside, seeing that some of Allen's men were still tying down one of the large, human like things, in a ship much like the Vione. She figured that it had to be the Crusade.

Allen waited until every one of his men had boarded until he himself came on and gave the orders to take off. He looked at Van and gave a wide grin. "Welcome back Van. It's been awhile."

Van pouted and looked extremely sour. "I haven't been gone that long."

Hitomi restrained the urge to laugh. Obviously he was touchy about his capture by the enemy as well, though she would be interested in one day hearing that story, but she promised that it would be from no one other than Van. It would definitely keep him from being angry if he found out that the others had been talking about it behind his back.

Allen chuckled and looked at Hitomi. "Welcome to the Crusade, Hitomi. No one will hurt you here." The look he gave his men dared anyone to try while he was on duty. It was clear he thought that she'd been through enough.


	9. Any Such Place

Disclaimer: Thought it'd be the same again didn't ya? Either way, I own no rights to Escaflowne or any of the characters therein.

A/N: Yay! A new chapter. I'm glad that all of you liked the last one. At the moment it's one of my favorites. I've been trying to use some of the devices I learned in AP Comp and AP Lit, but it's really hard to make them fit in subtly to the point of not screaming HERE I AM! I'M THIS DEVICE ect. Some of you will be happy to know that Merle comes in in this chapter. I put her in this fic for one of the fans of Club Escaflowne, who missed her. But everyone else was in on the party so why not her, right? Thanks for the reviews everyone (I'd list your names if I had them in fron of me but I don't have the Internet on my main computer.) Now the moment you've all been waiting for! On with the story! Whoo!

**Chapter 9: Any Such Place **

Hitomi was wallowing, but somehow she just didn't care to stop herself. She'd asked one of Allen's crew what the date was, wanting to know exactly how long it was she'd been away from home, and barely remembering that the last Track Meet she'd participated in had been on April 12th. Instead of hearing some day in the month of July, as she'd expected giving that Dilandau had told her she'd been his prisoner for at least three months, the man had told her it was ten Red Moon.

She sighed, picking at a plate of some strange stuff in a strange smelling sauce that reminded her of Alfredo when it came to tasting, which she hadn't done a lot of during the past hour she'd been staring at it and moving it around with her fork. She realized she'd been wallowing a lot lately, and it probably only served to make her look like a pessimist with everyone around her. She decided to make an effort to stop…when she was in public anyway.

An aggravated sigh came from the entrance of the kitchen that she was sitting in and she turned to see who it was intruding on her wallowing. She let a chipper smile make its way to her face, but it quickly evaporated upon seeing the grim and slouched version of Van come in and work his way around until he was sitting across from her with a plate of the same gray mass of stuff that she was.

"What is this, if you don't mind my asking?" Hitomi wanted to know.

Van looked up from his plate. He hadn't bothered to take a bite yet, but was instead moving things about with his fork as she had been doing only minutes ago. "Do you like sea food?" he asked.

Hitomi was confused at his sudden change of subject and didn't bother to hide it. "No, not really," she answered. Everyone had thought her weird because her culture thrived off of seafood.

"Then don't ask. If you like it, then it would ruin it for you, and if you don't, then it would probably just make you sick."

"Right," she said with a slow nod, expecting him to elaborate, but not bothering to push when he didn't.

For a while they sat in silence, neither one finishing their food and leaving, but occasionaly taking a small bite. Both jumped a foot high when whistling came suddenly at the door. Looking, they found Allen, whose whistling had suddenly ceased.

"Oh. I didn't realize I was interrupting something."

"You're not," they stated in unison, and he came in, digging into the same pot that they had.

"I'll just get something to eat and be on my way. And Van? It's not good to wallow." He walked away without waiting for Van's reply.

"I'm not wallowing!" he shouted after Allen's retreating form.

"Looks like you're wallowing to me," Hitomi muttered, taking one her far and few between bites and trying to discern what she was eating.

"Like you have any room to talk," Van snapped.

"All I'm saying," Hitomi said, pointing her fork at him, "is that it takes one to know one and we're both wallowing."

Van sighed, and Hitomi grinned in triumph.

"Do you miss your home too?" he asked, looking sad at the thought of being away from it.

"All the time. I don't know how long it's been since I've been home. All I have is a rough approximation. Your calendar is different than the one used on Earth."

"I don't know Earth. I didn't know there was any such place on Gaea."

"There isn't. What you call the Mystic Moon, I call Earth. That's all there is to it."

Van blinked in confusion. "_You're_ from the _Mystic Moon_?" Suddenly he looked as though he was interested. "What's it like there? Is it really cursed?"

Hitomi couldn't help but snort at the idiocy of everyone on this planet. "No, Earth is not cursed. It never has been, and it never will be. As far as I can tell, the people are the same, but other things are just plain different. We have different technology and weapons, for example."

"So tell me about it," Van urged. He seemed distracted from feeling the loss of his home when she talked about hers, and it was helping her feel somewhat better, so she couldn't find any reason not to tell him anything.

"What do you want to hear about first? There's a lot of differences that you wouldn't believe if I were to tell you."

"Your technology, then. What's it like?"

Hitomi thought about where to begin. "We have machines that will do almost anything for us. We have washers and dryers that do our laundry for us, and dishwashers to wash out dishes. We don't have those guymelef things that you have here."

"What?" Van snorted and burst out laughing. "No guymelefs? How is that possible?"

"We have vehicles. Cars, trucks, vans, things like that. We use them to haul things and get to where we want to go faster, but you have to have a license to operate them, and you have to be a certain age. When you can drive legally depends on where you live."

"You don't say? So it's a big land?"

Hitomi nodded. "I don't think that there's anyone in our history that's seen our entire world. That's how big it is. It has tons of countries, and seven different continents. I lived on an island. There's a lot of those too. We speak hundreds of languages, and a lot of them I've never even heard of."

"We have a lot of countries too, but I'm pretty sure we all speak the same language. My father visited a lot of places before he died, but I don't think that he managed to go everywhere."

"I wonder how long it would take someone to go to every single country in my world. It would be interesting to find out. It would take even longer if they tried to visit every single city."

"I don't think anyone would want to put that much effort into anything."

"Depends on what the person doing it is like, I suppose. I'd just be happy to go home."

"Me too, but there's nothing to go home to, until I can find my people and start gathering supplies to start rebuilding."

"What happened?"

"We were attacked by Dilandau's forces. They burned the whole place to the ground. Most everyone was killed, but I think a lot of people got away too. Our country was actually more like a town. You could see the whole thing when you stood on top of a hill nearby."

Hitomi could tell that it pained him to talk about it and fluttered about in her mind for something to change the subject with. "My country is made up of a few islands. All of our cities are overpopulated and we're struggling with housing, especially in our capital."

"What's your country called?"

"Japan. Yours is Fanelia isn't it?"

"Yes."

For awhile there was an awkward silence, but Hitomi didn't know how to break it without out making Van miss his country even more than he did already. It made her glad that she wasn't royalty having to be responsible for an entire place all by herself.

Van was the one that broke the silence.

"Thanks Hitomi. I've enjoyed talking to you, but there are some things that I need to take care of."

All she could do was nod and watch him go, not really knowing what to say. She watched him leave, the majority of his food left uneaten. Standing, she picked up her plate and his, looking for a way to dispose of the uneaten food, of which she still had to clue of what it could be, expect that it probably involved seafood.

Plates suddenly crashed to the floor and her hand flew to her cheek as nails dragged themselves a crossed it and blood began to well up.

"What was a foreigner like you doing talking to Lord Van?" demanded a very pink, very catlike creature that also appeared to be part human. Her fur was up on end, and Hitomi could tell that she was angry, but had no idea how she would be able to answer her.

A/N: Here's one small fact that some of you may not know. April 12th is also referred to as 12 White Moon (and while I'm not a major know it all on the Gaean calendar I did find this online) and it also happens to be Van's birthday. Also, I know that some are concerned about who Hitomi was going to end up with. At frist is was going to be Dilandau, but the starting chapters were rewritten so many times that the plot has changed from when I first started it. At this point in time, I don't even know who she's going to be with in the end.+


	10. The Last Time I Checked

Disclaimer: See any previous chapter, cause going to chapter 1 every damn time should be getting old by now.

**Chapter 10: Last Time I Checked**

All she could do was stare at the angry pink ball of fuzz, her expression somewhere between confusion and intimidation. Blinking, she opened her mouth to speak, but not before the cat woman could speak again.

"Well? Who are you? What right do you have to speak him? He's a King, and you," she took the time to observe Hitomi closely, "look like nothing more than a handmaiden."

Hitomi didn't know much about the culture of this world, but she knew enough to know she'd been insulted and called a servant. Never in her life had she been paid to do the menial work of others. She had enough of that to do for herself. Her previous emotions quickly turned to anger.

"What right do _you_ have to talk to _me_ like that. What gives you the right to control who Van speaks to. Last time I checked, that was his choice, not yours."

The pink creature stamped her foot loudly and let out a noise of aggravation before suddenly changing to a composure of aloofness. "Is it true that you're from the Mystic Moon? Van said that he and Allen brought back a weirdo."

"So what if it is true? It's no business of yours." Hitomi couldn't help but feel liberated at speaking her mind. It had been quite awhile since she'd last been allowed to say what was on her mind.

Shrugging, Hitomi's strange companion squatted and merely began to lick the back of her hand, just like a cat from her world would have. "Never mind. Weirdoes really don't concern me."

For awhile they sat in silence, this one more awkward than the one Hitomi had shared with Van only moments before. She quickly found that the pink thing before her couldn't keep her silence up very long.

"What is it that I have the non-pleasure of calling you?" She said it as though Hitomi were some form of germ that could kill anything with the slightest touch.

"Hitomi, though I don't see why a weirdo's name concerns you."

"It doesn't. I just wanted to know."

"And you are?"

The cat woman looked at her and blinked. "Merle." Without another word she leapt up from the floor and dashed from the room in such a way that made her look like she'd just spilled some scandalous secret and couldn't be bothered to stay with the same company now that they new her dark side.

Dilandau stood pacing, all of his Dragon Slayers stood before him, watching in silence as he made an attempt to contain his anger. He stopped dead, causing all of those in his presence to jump at the sudden movement. He turned to face them, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

"Tell me," he said vehemently, "how it is that I just found out about this attack now? It would appear that all of you have acted without orders. Anyone? Anyone at all?"

All remained silent, knowing that they would most likely die if they were to speak. Their hearts were racing as he took a another step closer to them, his eyes scrutinizing their faces.

"Do you know, that due to the losses of two certain prisoners, we have been granted a special little visit from Lord Folken with tidings from Emperor Dornkirk?"

All of their faces looked at the floor in shame as they knelt before him. They had heard rumors about the reasons Lord Folken had come, but none of them had yet been able to find out the truth.

"It would appear that Dornkirk had marked out The Girl From The Mystic Moon as an important factor in out future. Lord Folken, though, is most furious about the loss of his brother. It has been suggested that I find both of them as soon as possible."

No one moved. A few bold soldiers looked up and gazed at Dilandau in confusion.

"Well? GET A MOVE ON! I want those two found YESTERDAY! If anything like this happens again, I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!"

Every soldier present jumped up and ran from the room, intent on tracking down the lost prisoners.

Jajuka entered as they left, watching as Dilandau took a seat on his throne. He bit his index finger as he propped his right elbow on the armrest. For awhile he stared off into space, before looking to either side of his throne and gazing at the lion statues guarding him with swords in their jaws.

"Dornkirk isn't happy," he spat out, finally noticing Jajuka's presence.

"Neither is Lord Folken. It will be sorted out, Lord Dilandau. Your men have enough sense to correct their wrongs."

"THE WRONG SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Dilandau shouted, causing the stone room to echo loudly.

Jajuka didn't flinch. He stood tall and gazed at Dilandau with chilly eyes. "It will be fixed, Lord Dilandau, if I have to fix it myself."

Dilandau nodded. "Go help them. They'll be under your command while I'm not present. I trust that you will take this job seriously, even if they don't."

Jajuka bowed his head stiffly and turned to go, striding out of the room quickly to catch up with the Dragon Slayers before they departed.

"Temper, temper Dilandau," came a taunting voice from the shadows.

Dilandau turned to face it with a growl. "You seem a little too happy at the moment, Lord Folken," the albino hissed. "Remember that this will have consequences for you and your plans as well."

"But my plans didn't involve the power spot of Gaea, now did they? I'm not as impatient as Dornkirk, but I expect that Van and the girl will be back here promptly."

Dilandau scoffed. "If my men even have the competence to correct their errors."

"Or is your little fit just because _your _plans have been interfered with as well? The loss of my brother doesn't seem to bother you near as much as the loss of…what was her name?"

"Hitomi," Dilandau snapped, sounding bitter. "I'll get my revenge, you just watch, Folken. Don't be surprised if your little brother is a little mass of blood and bones the next time you see him."

Folken's eyes squinted in anger. "You will not touch him until I have given you express permission to do so. Is that clear, Dilandau?"

Dilandau growled again and bowed his head. "Quite clear, Lord Folken," he muttered, though he doubted that he would be able to control his actions the next time that he and the Fanelian king crossed paths.

A/N: I tried to make this chapter a little longer, and it looks like I was able to, though not by much, but I know that they appear shorter once they're posted online. Thanks to all of those who have reviewed! It turns out that this story is going to beat out Club Escaflowne in the post department. Keep on reading!


	11. State Of Mind

Disclaimer: See any previous chapter.

**Chapter 11: State Of Mind**

Hitomi was bored. It had been hours since she'd been left alone by Van and Merle. She'd long since taken care of the bleeding scratch on her cheek, thankfully the one that wasn't bruised, and prayed that it wouldn't scar over. It didn't appear to be too deep.

The only thing that she could think of to do was to explore the Crusade, but that would entail seeing the crew…and possibly a still angry Merle. Merle she thought she could handle, but the crew? They honestly made her a little nervous.

Her thoughts once more traveled to home, and how long it would take before she would be able to see her friends and family again. Surprising even herself, her thoughts jumped to Dilandau and what he'd said about her arrival. She found herself wondering if he was coping well with the loss of an important prisoner such as Van. Surely, he'd be making efforts to get Van back? He had seemed to be essential.

These thoughts pulled her to the conclusion that she would have to see Dilandau again, whether she wanted to or not. She wasn't even sure how she felt about the _idea_ of seeing him again. She shivered and gently touched the bruise around her eye that had begun to fade.

With a sigh, she shook herself out of her reverie and decided that exploration would do her some good. At the very least it would get her some exercise. God knew she needed it. She would just have to get used to the crew, because they were going to be around her for awhile.

Allen met up with her when she emerged from one of the dusty storage rooms. This one being full of broken parts, she assumed that everything here had been discarded here for an unguessable amount of time once they'd been replaced.

"Hitomi," he said, in greeting, sounding cheerful. "How are you getting on? I hear that you had a little chat with Van earlier."

"I'm fine," she muttered, a little uncomfortable with this man who looked so much like Amano. She neglected to reply to the statement about Van, fearing that it would lead to a conversation about Merle.

As it turns out, she wasn't saved from any mention of Merle whatsoever.

"What on Earth happened to your face?" His words sounded too sincere for her words and she shivered.

"Let's just say that I don't quite get along with Van's friend Merle." She kept her voice vague, hoping he'd see that it was no big deal to her. "It's nothing to worry about."

"That's not true. I promised your safety when you boarded my levy ship, and she's going against my command."

"I don't think she's under your command," Hitomi answered, hoping that she didn't sound too sharp. "I don't think she'd even listen to Van on this matter. She'll do what she wants, and I'll do what I want."

"If you say so," he replied, sounding unsure, but Hitomi ignored it. It wasn't his business.

"How did you come to meet up with those two anyway?" Hitomi wanted to know, wanting to avoid an uncomfortable silence.

Allen gave a sad little smile at the memory. "I met him when he came seeking an Astorian alliance. His country had just been burned down by Zaibach, but I couldn't tell who he was until I saw the insignia on his sword. One of my men found Merle while he was checking the Astorian borders for Zaibach spies a few weeks later. They've stayed with us, and Van has helped us to fight with his guymelef, Escaflowne. He left in a huff when Aston wouldn't give him the alliance immediately. By the time we located him again, he was in Zaibach hands."

Now it felt like the awkward silence could never be escaped.

"That's horrible," Hitomi whispered, after awhile. She could never imagine anything like that happening in her hometown.

"He's working towards rebuilding Fanelia though, so it's not all bad." He looked out a nearby window towards the sun and seemed distressed for a moment. "You'll have to excuse me, Hitomi. I have a meeting with a Princess of Astoria in Palas. We're due to land any minute." He gave a bow and turned back they way he'd come from, as though he'd been expressly looking for her to make sure that she was getting on well.

She shook her head. The people in this world were strange. It seemed that they always had a place to be, and she was just the one in the way or filling in time before they had to be on their way.

Dilandau was pacing, trying to let out all of his pent up frustration. His breathing was heavy and ragged as he tried to let go of his anger. Thus far his men had been unsuccessful in locating the trail of Allen Schezar and the prisoners that he'd stolen from the Zaibach empire.

The pacing thing just wasn't cutting it. He needed to yell at someone, to intimidate someone…but everyone worth intimidating or yelling at was out on the mission. Damn it, this wasn't serving to help him any. He was just becoming even more infuriated.

Flying to his desk, he pulled up the first thing that his hands came into contact with: a small bronze statue of a melef wearing an inactivated invisibility cloak. At break-neck speed it went flying across the room and connected with the thick wooden door to his study, breaking into two pieces as it landed on the stone floor. It helped. But not enough.

Papers were lifted from the desk and ripped into hundreds of tiny pieces. Only later did he realize that those were the copies of the reports that he'd sent to Dornkirk and Folken the moment he'd found out about the sneak attack of Astoria's leading Knight Caelei. The thought of having to ask Folken to have a scribe send him another copy for the safe of record reports he kept in a corner didn't help his mood.

Storming from the study, he marched loudly to the dungeons, not caring who heard him, hoping to find a prisoner of some sort that he could torture into letting out some kind of valuable information. There were none.

His thoughts turned to Hitomi and the time he'd spent with her. As he marched back towards his study, his anger left him, leaving him exhausted and wondering why he had even bothered to think about a minor prisoner. Folken had mentioned that her loss had affected him. Maybe it was true. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he couldn't care less about finding Van again no matter how important he was to Zaibach's victory in this war. All he could discern from his thoughts was that he wanted Hitomi back. He just couldn't figure out why.

'Why' had never been one of Dilandau's favorite questions. He hated being asked 'why' and he hated to ask 'why'. He'd always made sure that he never needed someone to ask him 'why' in reports, and he had never needed to ask 'why' when addressing a senior officer or commander. The answer had always been clear to him. Yet here he was asking himself several 'why' questions.

Why didn't he care about the retrieval of King Van Fanel?

Why did he care so much about getting Hitomi back?

Why could his men rarely do anything worth rewarding?

Why was he so bothered by all of this night and day?

Why was he so confused about this situation?

Confusion was the state of mind that Dilandau hated the most. There was no point in it and it hardly ever got anyone anywhere except for angry or dead. When one was confused, one's guard was down, and having one's guard down was not the best thing to happen, particularly in battle.

Of course there were the rare occasions that confusion ended up in major epiphanies. This was about the point when he realized that this was one of those times.

A/N: People in my stories have been having a lot of epiphanies lately...weird. AP English classes are starting to kick in. Anyway, I didn't think that this is one of the better chapters, at least the first part with Hitomi. I'm pretty happy with the way Dilandau's section turned out, though. I pretty much just wanted to answer a few questions asked in my reviews in Hitomi's section. Working with so many people is hard, yet here I am about to add more. Please bear with me! (Have I ever mentioned exactly how much I LOVE Dilandau?) Thanks for all of the kind reviews.


	12. Another Why Question

Disclaimer: On any previous chapter.

**A/N: **This chapter is specially dedicated to **fetch-thranduilion** for really understanding the points that I've tried to make with Dilandau, and for always giving great insight to her thoughts on this little fic. Thank you, because you've no idea how much it means to me.

**Chapter 12: Another 'Why' Question **

Hitomi was effecting him, somehow and at the moment he wasn't sure if it was a good thing. Lord Folken had already figured out that much, and probably more. Dilandau just couldn't see the good in having your thoughts continually invaded by thoughts of a woman. It just didn't make sense.

This couldn't possibly be good for his career as the commander of the Dragon Slayers. He had soldiers that he couldn't afford to let see him in such a state. Everything he's started, he'd begun to wonder whether or not Hitomi would approve of it. He thought of the things he'd done in the past and bowed his head in shame, thankful that no one was around to see him.

There were things that he'd done that just couldn't be taken back. Sure, burning down Fanelia had been a war effort, and that was understandable, but hitting Hitomi? He almost felt like letting one of his men beat him black and blue for a change. He was sure he deserved it. What was he to do? There was just no way that he could think of to get himself out of this situation.

Until the solution hit him like a brick wall.

He had to change. That was all there was to it. He had to get Hitomi back and prove to her that what she'd seen before would be gone forever. He would be a good man, and a good commander…not that he wasn't already but that was against the point.

Another 'why' question rushed to his head and he wondered where in the hell it had come from, though at the same time he thought that it was a completely rational question. When had 'why' questions become rational in his line of thinking? More importantly, why did he feel the need to change for Hitomi? Scratching his head, he sat for awhile trying to figure it out.

It went straight along with his epiphany, he decided, as his confusion began to clear. He had some sort of feelings for Hitomi, he just couldn't figure out what the word was to describe them. Damn! He hated being so confused.

A hectic knock found its way to his study door. He was about to yell at whoever was present on the other side to go away, but he caught himself just in time. Now, he decided, would be the perfect time to start his transition to his new self, which he knew would take a lot of effort on his part.

"Enter," he called out, as calmly as he could, and feeling pleased with himself that he was able to do so.

Dallete was the one who entered and bowed. "Lord Dilandau, we have pertinent information that you need to hear."

Taking a deep breath, he kept himself from demanding that he get straight to the point. This was going to be even harder than he thought. "Report," he commanded, sounding a little more rough than he would have liked. Oh well. He wasn't going to be perfect in the space of ten minuets.

"We've managed to get a location on the Crusade, my Lord. We've also confirmed that King Van and the Lady Hitomi are still on board." He sounded confused, as though Dilandau had somehow become possessed by some sort of demon. "We're awaiting your command as to how we should go about retrieving the prisoners."

This was the news that he'd been waiting to hear for three days. There was no way that he was going to let the Dragon Slayers botch this up now. He sat awhile in thought, thinking of the best way to go about the operation.

"Watch them with the invisibility cloaks. Make sure to stay a good distance away," he told them. He'd waited this long, a few more days wouldn't kill him…he hoped. "Wait until Allen's men have their guard down. Where is it that they were sited?" His words stayed neutral, barely showing any of his excitement.

"On the Astorian border, Lord Dilandau," Dallete answered promptly. "They're headed towards Palas and will land at any time. If we're not careful, King Aston's troops could be used in Allen Schezar's defense."

"Damn," Dilandau hissed, barely keeping himself from going into a rage. "This that isn't good," he muttered. "You'll have to keep on your guard for the best time to move. When you depart, I'll be going with you to command from the front. You're dismissed."

Dallete bowed again, never taking his eyes off of Dilandau. "I'll be departing at first light, Lord Dilandau." With a nod from Dilandau, he left, wondering what had taken over Dilandau's senses. He'd almost expected to be killed for bearing the news about King Aston's men.

**Hitomi:**

Hitomi wobbled noticeably as the levy ship began its descent towards the earth below them. Knowing that she wouldn't be laying eyes on Fanelia anytime soon, she quickly found herself wondering what Astoria would be like.

She'd barely been waiting for the landing ten minuets when a gigantuous shudder beneath her feet told her that they'd safely reached land. Wandering about, she quickly managed to find her way to the main control room and bridge, where Allen and most of his crew stood waiting until they were secure. Van and Merle soon appeared beside her, and Hitomi was sure that Van didn't notice the hiss that Merle let out at the sight of her.

"Gaddess will be coming with me," Allen shouted above the din as the final preparations to secure the levy ship took place, "the rest of you will be staying here. Van, Merle, and Hitomi will have the option to stay or go as they choose."

Hitomi was quick to make her decision to go, and wasn't surprised to see Merle stick with Van when he made the same choice.

"We'd better get a move on. Princess Millerna will be expecting us any minuet now."

As Allen lead them from the Crusade, Hitomi gazed in wonder at the city before her. This was Palas? It was huge! The assortment of people that they waded through amazed her. There were men and women who looked like wolves, dolphins, and falcons. The city itself looked clean and bright. Most of it looked as though it was made from marble.

"Allen!" called a female voice, causing everyone in their party to turn their heads in its general direction. "Over here!"

Hitomi looked at the girl standing on one of the many bridges that spanned the small channel of water running through the city. She had long, wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Allen was the first to reach her and bowed delicately over her hand and kissed her finger tips.

"Looking lovely as always, Millerna," he told her as he straightened himself.

"Oh, stop." She glanced behind Allen as Gaddess gave a low whistle. "Who's this?" she asked, her gaze settling firmly on Allen's newest companion.

"This is Hitomi. We found her in Dilandau's stronghold when we rescued Van."

With a bright smile on her face, she stepped around Allen and held her hand out to Hitomi. "Pleased to meet you, Hitomi. I'm Princess Millerna."

Hitomi stepped forward to shake the offered hand, but wasn't sure if she should bow or curtsy. "The pleasure is mine, Your Highness," she offered nervously. "I'm afraid that I don't know any of your customs."

"Oh don't worry. We're used to having visitors from all sorts of places." Looking at Van, Millerna gave another bright smile. "I'm glad to see you back safe, Van. Merle was quite worried about you before Allen decided to leave."

"Thank you, Princess." His simple statement lead Hitomi to the conclusion that he wasn't the most boisterous person in the land.

"Millerna," Allen interrupted, "I'm afraid that the war is going to take a drastic turn. Zaibach is going to be coming after Van again, I'm sure of it. We have to meet with your father, soon."

"Of course. He's been waiting for you to return." Her voice dropped to a secretive whisper. "But there's been a bit of a problem with Van's desire for an alliance."

"Let's not discuss that here," Allen whispered, his tone just as secretive. "You can tell me after I speak with King Aston."

Millerna sighed in defeat, as though she would have preferred the information to be in Allen's hands at that very moment. "All right, but don't say anything about it to him. He's gone and done a bit of a three sixty. Please Allen, promise me you won't say anything."

"Of course," he told her nonchalantly, neither promising nor not promising.

Millerna sighed again as they all began to head for the castle. Somehow he always managed to get away from making promises when he wanted to, and like all of the times before, she couldn't help but wonder why.

A/N: Arrrrrgh! throttles Hitomi and her current companions Why is it that I can never get her parts to turn out like I want them to? At least I love to work with Dilandau, because he's my favorite character. I hope that you guys are happy with this chapter. This is the last chapter that I have saved up, so it may be a little longer before my next update. I broke even with Club Escaflowne in chapter department now.


	13. We Will Meet Again

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

A/N: I was so surprised to see that I got 5 reviews for the last chapter in one day! Thanks to all of you, for encouraging me to continue. Chapters may be a little slow in coming now, but you can rest assured that they will show up eventually. Oh, and if you haven't already, I suggest you read **Advancement** by **Fetch-thranduilion. **It puts a new twist on continuation fics. Enjoy this chapter! ;p

**Chapter 13: We Will Meet Again**

Dilandau was visibly displeased to see Folken when he arrived at the front as the Dragon Slayers were watching and waiting for the perfect time to attack. This was Dilandau's affair, not Folken's…unless he was there at the request of Emperor Dornkirk, which he though highly unlikely.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped irritably as his men bowed to the lord. All of his desires to change were rapidly leaving his mind for the current time.

"Dilandau, I should think that you would show a little more respect," Folken answered calmly, and Dilandau wondered why he was always able to keep his emotions from showing whenever he so wished.

"We're waiting for the attack, Folken. We don't need any distractions." He sounded some-what more calm, but his irritation was still showing on his face.

"That's what I've come to discuss with you. I'm going to be speaking with my brother _before_ you attack. He will not be harmed in any way. He, and hopefully that girl you're pining over, will be baited to you, but you are not to touch them until I've completed my business."

Was that a snicker he heard out of Dallete's mouth? One thing above all, he would _not_ be laughed at by his men. He lashed out, knocking the bowing soldier to his side.

"I'm not pining, thank you very much."

"What would you call it then?" Folken asked with a chuckle as he passed a hand over the teardrop tattoo under his right eye.

He growled, refusing to answer Folken's last. "You do what you want, Lord Folken, but _don't_ interfere with our mission."

**Hitomi**

Van hadn't felt like going to the palace to see King Aston. He apparently felt like he would be harassing the man to make a decision. Merle stayed attached to his side, but Hitomi didn't feel like waiting around for Allen while he spoke to the King, and decided that she would rather explore the city. She would just have to do her best to ignore anything that the little cat girl said to her, though for the most part it looked as if Merle was going to ignore her.

"I want to go see the ocean, Lord Van," Merle chided, hanging from the young King's arm. "We've never seen it before!"

Van blinked, as though he was against the idea, but Hitomi felt the same way that Merle did.

"I think it's a good idea. I haven't seen it since Dilandau brought me here." Merle looked pleased for the input, though vaguely annoyed that it had come from the strange girl from the planet in the sky.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. Which way is it, Merle?" he asked, giving in to his friend quite easily.

Merle sniffed at the air and turned about in circles before she stopped and pointed. "That way, Lord Van." Quickly dropping to all fours, she ran in the direction that she had indicated, too quickly for Van and Hitomi to keep up without running.

After nearly ten minuets of running, which wasn't much in Hitomi's line of thinking, though her body currently felt that it was, Van suddenly stopped and she had to skid to a halt to keep from bumping into him. Merle didn't notice that her companions had stopped, and was soon out of their sight as she continued for the large body of water.

Hitomi looked around for the sight that had distracted Van, and found him looking at one of the many bridges that crossed that canal running through the city. There was nothing unusual about this bridge that Hitomi could see. The only thing that decorated it's structure was a tall man with odd pale blue hair wrapped in a long dark cloak.

"It can't be," she heard Van mumble under his breath before he ran for the bridge and the man that stood on it.

She followed him without thought and it was mere seconds before they'd reached the bridge's edge. The man was looking down at Van with a sad smile on his face, as though he knew something that she would never know about Van.

Van continued up to the man with hesitation, as though he was seeing the ghost of the dead. Hitomi followed him silently, not wishing to tear either of the men away from their thoughts.

"Folken?" Van asked, as though the name alone pained him.

"Brother," the man answered with a little nod in the King's direction. "It's been a long time."

"I thought you were dead," Van said, looking away, his voice no more than a whisper. "We all thought that you died slaying the dragon." His voice was becoming louder, and anger was beginning to show its face. "None of us had bothered to think that you would have run away!"

For awhile there was silence. Folken didn't answer, and it dawned on Hitomi where she'd heard the older man's name before. He worked for Zaibach. Dilandau's Dragon Slayers had told her as much. He was one of Dornkirk's minions.

"I didn't run away, Van," Folken said, his voice showing a trace of a warning tone. "I almost died. I'd lost quite a bit of blood when Dornkirk found me. He saved me. I couldn't just leave."

"So now you're with the people who burned down your homeland?" Van demanded, frustration and anger mixing together. He looked closely upon his brother's face, and Hitomi glanced nervously back and forth between them. "What have you done?" he asked, noticing the tear drop tattoo on his brother's face.

Hitomi knew exactly what it meant even before Folken spoke.

"I've done many horrible things Van, but in the end they will save Gaea. Come back with me Van. Dornkirk would allow you to help him. Our plans are quickly taking place. I don't want to have to fight you, brother."

Van shook his head and stepped away. "No. You've killed people. I don't even think that I can trust you anymore. You left your country and your family. Father died looking for you and mother died looking for him."

Folken passed a hand over the mark that showed his deeds. "You've killed as well Van. This is a war, and until it's over, people are going to die. We will meet again."

The man turned and walked away from them. With one last look back, one that held a vast amount of regret, he climbed into the carriage that awaited for him and with a nod to the driver, was off without hesitation.

**Dilandau**

Now was the time that they'd been waiting for. Van and the strange girl that held his interest were alone on the bridge, and he was glad that Folken had set this up so well. For awhile he'd doubted that the man's plans wouldn't interfere with his own, but now was the perfect time for the attack.

He watched with great pleasure as three of his melefs showed up on the bridge, losing the camouflage that the invisibility cloaks had provided for them. There was no way that they could mess this one up. All they had to do was snatch two little people and bring them back to him. It was by no means difficult.

Dilandau couldn't hold back the evil chuckle that bubbled up when he saw the King of Fanelia go through the folly of drawing his sword. It was futile for him to fight almost bare handed against three fully equipped Zaibach melefs. Hitomi was looking around with wild eyes, but finding no evident way of escape.

For a moment, a twinge of guilt plagued him at the thought that she was afraid. But it was only for a moment. It passed quickly as the thought that the prisoners would once again be in his grasp overwhelmed him. Folken could do as he pleased with his little brother, but he was not going to be letting Hitomi out of his sight again.

Wild thoughts filled his mind. If he was lucky, Folken would let him kill Van. The thought of the Fanelian's blood on his hands made him insanely happy. Crazy laughter filled the air, startling the silent form of Jajuka that stood beside him.

The laughter ceased and he turned to face Jajuka, having once more regained control of himself and his thoughts. "Make sure that the…room arrangements have been made for Van's stay. He's a very special guest of Lord Folken, you know. I'll also be speaking to Hitomi once she's been settled in again," he snapped before turning back to see Shesta, Miguel, and Dallete begin their ascent back to the Vione after once more activating their invisibility cloaks.

"We will meet again, Hitomi," he whispered to himself, turning in the direction of his study. "Very, very soon."

A/N: Not the best ending, but hey! Dilandau finally gets to see Hitomi again. Yay! Please stay patient as I start to write chapter 14. It will be up soon after Thanksgiving.


	14. Just Because

Disclaimer: I may not own Escaflowne, but I do own the arrangement of these little words in general.

**Chapter 14: Just Because**

Van tried to reach for his sword, in hopes that he would be able to escape from the giant hand that engulfed him. It was just out of his reach, but he realized that if he escaped, he would have to leave Hitomi. He wasn't going to do that. It wasn't noble. All that he could do was hope for an opening when they reached Dilandau's lair.

He and Hitomi weren't kept waiting for long. The moment the melefs reached the hanger they were released and Dilandau was standing in front of them. He wasn't going to let them get away so easily this time.

"So good to see you again Van," the albino greeted with false cheer. "We've made special arrangements for you this time."

As he spoke an evil glint entered his crazed eyes, making Van shudder with a hint of fear. He stayed as silent as the girl next to him, refusing to let his nerves or his anger show.

"Take him away," Dilandau told the nearest soldier, who happened to be Shesta. "I want four guards posted for him at all times. Make sure that Folken doesn't persuade you to make him so comfortable this time."

"Of course, Lord Dilandau." With a hurried bow, Shesta went about his task, taking a few other unanimous soldiers with him to prevent the prisoner's escape.

Dilandau watched until his soldier's and Van turned the nearest corner before giving his full attention back to Hitomi. For a moment, it was all that he could do to keep eye contact.

"You've been quite troublesome," he was finally able to say. He hoped that his tone didn't waver. It served the girl right if he sounded severe. "You and that King both. What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked, taking her arm and guiding her away from the hanger.

Hitomi gave him a look of hate, as though she was bitter at the prospect of being back at her previous prison. "I've got nothing to say to you," she snapped, not caring if he hit her. Her previous bruises had faded for the most part, and the pain was only temporary. She wasn't going to put up with him anymore.

She thought she heard Dilandau chuckle.

"If that's how you want to start your imprisonment, then that's up to you, but your attitude is in for a little improvement."

"Like I'll be nice just because _you_ want me to be."

Dilandau almost snapped, and for a moment his grip tightened around Hitomi's arm, causing her to cringe. "You might want to behave, if you don't want me to kill your little friend, Hitomi."

She couldn't think of a retort to shoot back. If Van was killed because of her, then she was going to face the wrath of Merle. He and Allen had done her a favor by taking her away from Dilandau before. She wasn't going to let him be killed just because she didn't like the way that Dilandau operated.

"You would come up with something like that," she muttered gently, hoping that he really wouldn't be able to discern what she'd said.

Dilandau had heard her, but for the most part he decided to ignore her statement. He instead continued to haul her down different halls muttering non-committal things about the number of ways that Van could be killed. This continued until they reached the hall that Hitomi had previously stayed in.

"You can call Jajuka and that woman if you need anything. I'll be doubling your guard, for the record. Anything that you request through them will be approved or disapproved by me."

"I feel so special," she said, as they approached her door and saw four unfamiliar soldiers standing in a line across the entryway. "Can I request one little thing now?" She really didn't need anything. She just wanted to see what kind of reaction she could get out of him.

"What?" he snapped, sounding aggravated. It was almost like he wanted the meeting to end, though when he thought about it, he realized that he didn't want it to. He just didn't like the fact that Hitomi didn't like him.

She hesitated, unsure if she really wanted to risk making him angry.

"Well? Get on with it. I've got work that needs to be done!"

"I don't suppose that you know what a tampon is?" she finally asked, sounding completely serious.

He sighed. "I don't need your little games right now, girl. Tell me what you want so that I can go about my business!" His temper was rising and she knew it.

"So go about whatever little evil things you need to do. I'll just call Laura and ask her. She'll actually know what I mean."

The door to her room was open and the soldiers were standing aside. Dilandau pointed to the room, not in the mood to say anything for fear that he exploded. God knew that he was about to. This girl was being so difficult! He didn't need to say anything. Hitomi resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at Dilandau and his guards and marched into her prison, kicking the door closed behind her.

As he stormed away, Dilandau could barely resist pulling out his hair. Had it been one of his men speaking to him like that, he would have pounded the daylights out of them, but somehow he'd managed to walk away.

Once he stood in his study the papers and other objects were flying around the room. While he did manage to refrain from tearing anything up, he did cause a wine jug to break against the wall and stain some of the papers that had landed on the ground beneath it.

Why had that woman decided to be so difficult? He pulled at his hair and let out a roar. There was nothing that he could do about her attitude short of beat her for it, and he didn't want to do that, which surprised him. He doubted that hitting her would even change her attitude in the least. She wasn't exactly being timid this time around.

Oh what in the Zaibach nation had he gotten himself into?

A/N: Howdy there! I was finally able to get this chapter up after having a ton of problems with the site, and I'm sorry it's so short, but hey! It's a chapter. Please take the time to share your thoughts on this segment with me! ;p


	15. Interrogations

Disclaimer: I think that we've established by now that I don't own Escaflowne, so I'm not going to bother doing these little things anymore after this chapter. Hey! You'll be able to get to the story a whole 15 seconds sooner! ;p

**Chapter 15: Interrogations**

Hitomi pried her eyes open when she heard someone scuttling about the room that she once again occupied. Upon opening her eyes a crack, she found that it looked exactly the same as it had when she'd left it hardly a week before. She also found that the intruder was merely Laura, and allowed her eyes to close once more. But Laura had already noticed her stir.

"You'll have to get up, my Lady. You can't be lazing around in bed all day," the woman told her, standing over her and trying to frown, but showing a smile instead.

The girl sighed. After her confrontation with Dilandau the previous day, she'd been wiped out. It had been all she could do to make her way to bed without falling over. She hadn't even put on something that would be more comfortable to sleep in. Keeping up an attitude to rival Dilandau's was a hard task, and she'd been surprised to see that she wasn't sporting any new bruises over it.

Sitting up, the only thoughts that kept her from lying back down and ignoring Laura were thoughts of home. She wasn't getting any closer to seeing her family again by lying about in bed.

"I hear you put Lord Dilandau in his place last night," Laura commented, sounding interested.

"Hardly," Hitomi answered with a snort. "I just said some of the things that everyone who knows the jerk has been wanting to say. It would take more than what I said to put someone like Dilandau in his place. He's not going to change his tune over night."

"You don't say," came the chilling and familiar voice of Dilandau.

Hitomi and Laura both went rigid, neither having any sort of clue how long he'd been standing at the door.

He gave Laura one of his chilling gazes. "Leave," he commanded, and he didn't have to say another word. The servant woman was out the door and in the next hall over before he could so much as blink.

Hitomi gave the Dragon Slayer leader an obviously false and cheery smile, hoping for Van's sake that he wouldn't take it as an insult. "Good morning," she uttered, just as full of fake cheer as her smile.

Giving his prisoner a suspicious look, he pointed out the door. "You're coming with me to my study. I have some questions for you."

Hitomi shrugged. "It's not like I've got a choice."

Exiting the room, they walked in silence. Just before Hitomi thought she was going to scream with the intensity of the silence riding on her, they reached the desired location.

Closing the door and pushing Hitomi into the chair, Dilandau stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before he began. As she waited, Hitomi inspected her nails, though she didn't really much care about what kind of condition they were in.

"I'm wondering," he started, "if you managed to learn anything that would be of use to me on your little…field trip." He paced slowly around her chair, obviously attempting to intimidate her.

Hitomi continued to inspect her nails and rolled her eyes. He'd gotten to her the last few times that he'd interrogated her. It wasn't going to work this time.

"I suppose if I don't tell you everything that I know then you're going to kill Van, right?" she asked, shooting him a sarcastic look as he went around the back of her chair.

For a moment he looked shocked, but quickly schooled his face to a stoic expression. "Exactly," he answered. "What did they tell you?"

"And you really think," Hitomi asked, in all seriousness, "that they would tell me, someone that they took out of _your_ little 'ship', out of _your_ little secret wing, everything that they were planning to do to the Zaibach nation?" It was clear that she was skeptical about Dilandau's reasoning.

For a moment Dilandau stopped pacing and looked at her eye to eye. "You're telling me they didn't tell you anything? Nothing at all?"

She let out an aggravated sigh. "NO! I didn't ask them and they weren't exactly anxious to pull me into some secret war meeting against my will and spill the beans in order to force me to help them defeat you."

"But how do I know that you didn't tell them anything about _my_ plans."

"You haven't mentioned any of your plans to me, that's why. Neither have your little pet soldiers. It's not like I've got anything worth bribing them with to make them tell me anyway."

"Damn," he hissed, turning away from her and shuffling through papers on his desk. "I'll have to interrogate Fanel then, though how much he'll tell I can't say."

Finding a quill and a blank piece of paper and began to scribble notes down for a report to Folken. He'd of course send the report _after_ the interrogation so that Emperor Dornkirk's little pet couldn't object. This way Folken wouldn't be able to do anything if his interrogation methods proceeded to get a little…rough.

**Allen**

His meeting with the Astorian King hadn't gone as planned. Damn! Why hadn't Millerna said anything about her father making a new alliance with Zaibach only last week? Thinking back, he briefly recalled her saying something about needing to talk to him. He'd think that something of such importance would have caused her to be a little more forceful in giving him the update. And where were Van and his companions? They were due back nearly an hour ago.

Just as he was starting to become livid about the young king's absence, Merle came quickly around a corner on all fours, barely avoiding colliding with the knight. Tears were streaming down her face, and he could only assume that the problem had to deal with Van.

"What's the matter?" he demanded firmly, though he avoided sounding rash. "Where's Van?"

The cat girl in front of him began to wail as she leaned against the closest wall. "I don't know! We were going to see the sea, but when I got to the harbor, he and Hitomi weren't behind me anymore. I looked for him for hours, but I couldn't find him. The only things I saw were some of the Zaibach melefs hanging around."

"Damn," Allen hissed. "They must have taken Van and Hitomi back."

He shook his head slowly back and forth, trying to think of something that he could do. First, the Zaibach nation had burned Van's country to the ground, then they had captured Van for Dilandau, and now that he'd taken the initiative to rescue Van and Hitomi from Dilandau, he'd gone around Allen's defenses and taken them back. He should've sent some of the crew to guard them. Why had he allowed the three of them to go out on their own?

**Dilandau**

Dilandau rubbed his hands together with glee as he walked down to the dungeons. This was going to be fun! His thoughts continued in this fashion until he reached Van's cell, where he promptly allowed a cold and cruel expression to fall over his face as the guards parted to let their leader pass.

The King was sitting on a chair in the far left corner, his hands tied behind his back and the few remaining crumbs of his meager meal sitting before him. He looked at Dilandau with vague eyes, as though he could care less about the young man's presence.

"It's been awhile, Van," he said to his prisoner in way of greeting as he let the door close behind him, not bothering to think about the day before.

The king remained silent, regarding his captor with the same indifferent look.

"I've already talked to Hitomi, and she couldn't tell me anything of use, so I thought to myself, 'why don't I go directly to the source of the rebellion against Zaibach.'"

At the mention of Hitomi, Van seemed to perk up a little, and this made Dilandau suspicious.

"If she's of no use to you, then why did you brother to drag her back here against her will? She doesn't exactly beg to be in your company, as far as I can understand," he snapped, refusing to look in Dilandau's direction, instead favoring the wall before him.

Dilandau didn't dignify the comment with a response. Instead, he covered the short distance to Van and his chair and punched the Fanelian in the jaw hard enough to make his head shoot back and slam against the back of his chair.

"What are the rebel countries planning?" Dilandau continued, watching as his captive's jaw already began to bruise. "If you're willing to tell me, I won't have to kill you. Folken wouldn't be very happy if you were dead."

Van spat by Dilandau's foot, not caring if his brother wanted him alive. If he knew for sure that his death wouldn't totally halt the rebellion against Zaibach, then he would kill himself here and now before allowing Dilandau to do the deed himself. But it didn't appear that he had that particular option. The reaction he received for his silence was a hit to the opposite side of his face.

"Of course," Dilandau said, deciding to test the waters, "if you insist on keeping your silence, Hitomi could always die in your place and then Folken wouldn't have to worry about keeping his precious little brother alive. Folken could care less if some little girl from the Mystic Moon lost her life."

"You wouldn't dare," Van hissed, vehemence audible in every stressed syllable.

"She has nothing to do with Zaibach's schemes, but it wouldn't be the first time that you've killed innocent people, now would it? Hitomi doesn't deserve to be caught up in the middle of this. She knows nothing of Allen's plans and neither do I. I only hope that whatever they're planning erases Zaibach from Gaea, just like you destroyed Fanelia. "

Dilandau chuckled at Van's tart answer as one of his Dragon Slayers knocked on the cell door. This must be important if they were interrupting his interrogation of such an important guest.

"Enter!" he called out harshly, wanting to get back to his fun.

The Dragon Slayer who entered was one that he hadn't seen for awhile. She'd been doing spy duty for Zaibach for the past month. Viole bowed and handed him an envelope sealed with Folken's emblem. What was he up to this time?

He read the report and couldn't help but burst into laughter. This was the best news he'd received from anyone about the war in a long time. Some how Folken and Emperor Dornkirk had managed to form and alliance with Astoria, once a proud supporter of Fanelia. This was rich! He could just imagine Allen Schezar's reaction to the news when he found out.

Handing the report back to Viole he looked at her with his usual smirk. "Pull out all of the spies and troops from Astoria and it's borders. Only you will be watching them from now on."

"It's already been done Sir, by the order of Lord Folken and General Adelphos," the girl told him with a salute.

Dilandau nodded his approval. "Dismissed," he told her, turning back to Van. "Astoria is no longer on your side, little fool," he taunted. "You have nothing."

A/N: looks about in wonder People think that I should make this a lemon? I think not. Lemons really aren't my thing, if you catch my drift. I did, however, like how this chapter turned out for once, and it is a teeny bit longer than most of my other chapters, but I doubt that it will show up as such once it's actually posted online. I know that it took awhile to get this one oout, and the next one may not come until after christmas because I have 3 weeks to make 4 scarves for presents. I'll do what I can though...


	16. You're Welcome To Join Me

A/N: falls over with shame I am sooooo sorry. I really didn't know that Viole is a guy. If I ever find the time, I vow to fix that. I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long. I've had so much work with a huge senior government project, semester finals, and making people's Christmas presents because I'm too poor to buy them.

**Chapter 16: You're Welcome To Join Me**

Dilandau had been secretive and evasive for the past few days, and it was making Hitomi nervous. She didn't have any idea what he was up to, but she knew that it had to do with Van because on the few occasions that she saw him, he was chuckling and commenting about someone's downfall under his breath.

Hitomi wanted to see Van, but she knew that if she asked for Dilandau's permission, he wouldn't let her, and the consequences probably wouldn't be good. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of her room without Dilandau's permission or at the very least without Jajuka to escort her. It was an all around pointless situation.

With a sigh, she began to pace back and forth. Nothing here was making sense. All she wanted to do was get home. She couldn't think like this. She needed to go for a run. It would help her think and get everything sorted out, no matter how out of shape she was. Opening the door the door, and causing the guards out side to jump to attention and face her, she requested that they send for Jajuka. One claimed that he was in a war meeting, thus she merely gave a sarcastic smile and a smart retort.

"Leave a damn message then. I don't care when he gets here, I just want him here." She did her best to take on a commanding tone, and it appeared to work because one of the soldiers nodded and was immediately running down the hall to deliver her request.

She was surprised when she didn't have to wait for long. Jajuka came in suddenly with a little bow, giving her no warning and causing her to jump.

"What service may I do for you, Lady Hitomi?"

Hitomi looked at him, trying to get her heart to stop racing from his sudden entrance. "I wasn't expecting you for awhile," she confessed. "I was told you were in a meeting on the war."

"We were just finishing when the messenger arrived. It seems that you gave him a bit of a scare."

"I doubt I scared him as badly as Dilandau could have."

"Please. I'll have to ask you to watch the language that you use. What may I do for you?"

Rolling her eyes, Hitomi let out a sigh. "I'd like to go outside and stretch my legs a little," she told him, batting her eyelashes. "It's been awhile. I need to go for a run."

He looked down at her doubtfully, as though the word 'run' had set off some sort of alarm in his head. "I'm not sure about that. I'll have to ask Lord Dilandau's permission."

Hitomi stomped her foot and pouted some more, like a child who couldn't get the candy they wanted because it was too close to dinner time. "He let me go out into the gardens before."

"Yes," Jajuka agreed, "but that was before the little incident we had with the intruders, and now we're in flight. We need his permission to land."

"Oh, please," Hitomi said, irritated. "Dilandau's got Van. Van isn't going anywhere, and I doubt anyone is coming to intrude upon your domain any time soon, seeing as to you've tightened everything up since the last attack happened."

Jajuka couldn't be persuaded to see her point of view.

"I'll speak with Dilandau," he told her firmly, staring her in the eye before turning to go about the task that he'd promised to complete.

**Jajuka**

He was glad when he was able to find Dilandau unoccupied by any sort of important business. Instead, the albino was writing out something on paper while sporadically bursting into insane laughter until he noticed his soldier standing at the door.

"Jajuka?" he asked, opening the floor for any business that the man might be bringing to him.

"It's Lady Hitomi, Lord Dilandau. She had a request, and I told her that in light of the circumstances of the attack not long ago, and the fact that we aren't due to land, that I would have to obtain your permission."

Dilandau raised his eyebrows skeptically, but after thinking over Jajuka's words began to nod his approval. "Very good. What is it that she wants?"

"In her words, she would like to 'stretch her legs and go for a run.'"

Dilandau smiled a mad grin, thinking of the day that he'd captured her. She'd been in some sort of race. He nodded again, not showing any emotion that would show anything about the thoughts running through his head.

"Go about your business, Jajuka," he answered finally. "I'll fulfill her little request."

He waved a dismissal, and with a salute, Jajuka went back to his business, glad that he wouldn't have to worry about the foreign girl should she attempt to, or manage to, escape.

**Hitomi & Dilandau**

Hitomi was more than surprised to see Dilandau and not Jajuka at her door nearly half an hour after Jajuka had left to acquire the permission that he needed to fulfill the request that she'd asked of him, and surprised to feel the shudder of the landing ship beneath her.

"I'm here to be your escort," he told her, in answer to her shocked expression. He didn't wait for a reply, but instead grabbed her wrist gently, and began to lead her along the halls and corridors that would take her to the freedom of the outside world at a steady pace.

The sun broke over her in a bright blanket of light. Dilandau released her and stood waiting for whatever she might do. He watched as she blinked to get her eyes used to the light before plopping down on the grassy slope and stretching out lazily.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, feeling proud that it didn't come out sounding harsh.

"I'm going to lay here stretched on the grass until I work up the will power to stand up and run for a bit," she answered honestly. "You're most welcome to join me, seeing as to you were kind enough to let me do so."

Dilandau shrugged, almost smiling at the thought of being called kind, even if it had been a slightly sarcastic notion. "It's not really my thing," he answered stoically, part of him wishing to take her up on her offer, no matter how sarcastic it was, and the other part wanting to continue to be the well trained and on guard soldier.

As a compromise, he sat down beside her, refusing to lay out lazily as she was doing. Why was he doing this again? Oh yes. For some reason she was getting to him, and for once in his life he felt the urge that he had to make someone happy, the said someone being the girl from the Mystic Moon. Thus he was willing to be contradictory to himself.

Hitomi eyed Dilandau with suspicion as he sat down, wondering if something was affecting his head. He'd told her that it wasn't his thing and then contradicted himself by sitting down anyway.

Sitting up, she stared at him out of the corner of her eye, thinking that she should be happy to get her way just once. But another thought emerged from this one.

The albino was actually being kind to her. He'd landed a levy ship so she could sit here and then run about. But how long he would keep his patience, she couldn't tell.

She did, however, have to wonder why he was doing this for her…

A/N: Whoo! I got anther one done. I'll try to have the next finished as soon as I come back from break and get Internet Access. I hope you enjoy this little tid bit.


	17. A Bit Of Fun

**Chapter 17: A Bit Of Fun**

Hitomi shook her head. She shouldn't over think this. It would get to her one day soon and start to drive her crazy. Crazy was the last thing that she needed to be right now. With another shake of her head, she stood, shook the grass from her dress, and ignoring Dilandau's look of…she had no idea what it was, and looked at her attire. It wasn't exactly made for a track star.

With a shrug to herself, she figured that she may as well live with it. At least she was getting the chance to run after so long. She didn't have time to waste either, what with Dilandau being prone to suddenly decide to throw a tantrum.

Hiking up the long skirt of her dress she began to head down the hill at a light jog, not bothering to look back at Dilandau, and attempting to take it easy until she was back in the feel of running long distances.

**Dilandau**

For a few moments he watched her as she made her way down that hill. He had to admit that for someone who he'd kept prisoner for so long, she was doing rather well. She actually could almost be described as graceful, except for the fact that she occasionally tripped over the hem of that dress. But hell, he didn't blame her. He didn't see how women could even walk in the damn things. Shaking such thoughts from his head, he stood, deciding that he would fancy a bit of exercise as well.

Starting down the hill after her, he caught up to her with the ease of one who'd been in military training for years. She gave him a look of surprise as he slowed down to her pace and in turn he gave her a smug look of proud satisfaction.

He was dumbfounded when she gave him a little competitive smile and sped up her pace, just enough to get ahead of him. He grinned evilly to himself and gladly caught up with her. This might be fun. It had been quite some time since anyone had wanted to compete with him. Usually it was just "Lord Dilandau" this and "Lord Dilandau" that.

It wasn't long before Hitomi fell over with exhaustion and laughed like mad. She didn't care that Dilandau had outrun her. He was in better shape. And it was known world wide that most boys could outrun girls.

Dilandau looked up at the darkening sky. "We have to get back. I've shirked my duties long enough for today." His voice was serious, and Hitomi thought that she almost sounded angry. "I'm sure that Folken was expecting my arrival hours ago."

He pulled Hitomi from the ground and led her back the way they had come quickly, not caring that Hitomi had tired herself out trying to outrun him. That was her own fault for competing with him. He _always_ annihilated the competition.

The second they set foot back on the Vione, Dilandau sent the order to take off and head for Zaibach's palace at full speed.

A/N: runs away and hides from the angry mob I know this chapter was extremely short, but I was ambushed by crazy people over Christmas break. When I tried to write, the most horrible thing happened…I got writer's block. dun dun dun So instead of prolong your misery (because two weeks _is_ long, I know) I decided to post what I had. Please don't kill me! If you have any ideas for the story though, I'd would gladly appreciate reading them in a review. I need some inspiration for current chapters! Happy New Year! ;p


	18. Situations

A/N: This chapter is for Litschi, who gave me the idea for this chapter after I suffered a few weeks of writers block. This isn't exactly what she proposed, because I changed it for my own devilish purposes, but it was still and awesome idea. Thanks Litschi!

**Chapter 18: Situations**

She was surprised at the speed in which Dilandau was willing to leave her. He nodded to a Dragon Slayer who appeared suddenly beside her, causing her to jump. As she attempted to control her beating heart, she noticed a smug smile on Dallete's lips.

"I trust that I can leave everything to you," Dilandau told him before he turned and walked away.

Dallete gave a salute to Dilandau's retreating form and without further ado, took hold of Hitomi's upper arm a little more firmly than she would have liked, and began to escort her back to her room. As they walked, she felt the ground beneath her shudder and knew that the Vione was making its ascent back into the air.

The guards on either side of her door watched as Dallete released her and allowed her to open the door. But as she moved to step over the threshold, she was tugged firmly back by a force that had gotten a strong grip on her wrist. Each step he took towards her to close the distance between them made a resounding thud on the stones beneath their feet.

Before she could do anything to stop him, Dallete had her pushed against her doorframe. The two Dragon Slayers near them watched with evident surprise, unsure if they should stop their comrade.

She struggled against his grasp, but he was almost as strong as Dilandau was. "Let me-" Her protest was cut off short as his lips covered hers.

**Dilandau**

As he arrived at his study, Dilandau gave a hiss of annoyance. Waiting for him there was Folken's favorite messenger whom he remembered as Percival.

"What does Folken want now?" he demanded, rubbing his hands together in irritation. The ground beneath them was shaking, but Dilandau walked around his study as if everything was perfectly steady.

Percival cleared his throat and prepared to deliver Folken's words, almost shrinking away from Dilandau's annoyed form. "He says that you've kept him waiting long enough. He'll be arriving here soon. He received your interrogation report and wishes to discuss it with you. He'll also be wishing to discuss why you gave the order to land the Vione without his consent."

"And you can tell him that I had other duties to attend to before arriving to see him. He didn't need to bother coming all the way out here."

"But he'll be wanting to see his brother. He wants to make sure that your interrogation methods weren't too…rash."

"He doesn't need to worry about Van. I have that situation completely under control."

"I'm sure," Percival told him, pulling a paper from the pocket of his vest and scanning it over with a quick eye. "He'll be waiting for you in the communication room. It looks like he'll be expecting a report on the duties that required you to land his levy ship."

Dilandau rolled his eyes with aggravation and sat down at his desk. He tuned Percival out temporarily while he began to scribble out the report that Folken had requested.

"Did you hear what I just said, Lord Dilandau?" he asked dubiously, looking at the albino with a nervous eye.

"No, Percival," he answered, not bothering to cover up his irritation. "I don't like listening to people talk while I have work to do." With deft hands he pulled out another sheet of paper and began to make an identical copy of the report he'd just written for his safe.

"Lord Folken wishes for you to bring the girl that you brought back with you from the Mystic Moon. It seems that he wishes-"

Dilandau tuned him out again as he stood and walked over to the safe. As he deposited the report inside, he looked at Percival with a look that said he wouldn't mind killing him. "Are you done here? I understand everything that Folken wants."

"No, Lord Dilandau. Lord Folken wishes for me to escort you and the girl from the Mystic Moon to the communication room. He wants to make sure you don't keep him waiting much longer."

"Let's go get Hitomi then, since Folken is so anxious to see her."

Percival followed Dilandau at a safe pace, wobbling a little as the Vione shook about. They walked in silence, Dilandau not wanting to cause Percival to go off on another list of Folken's desires, and Percival not wanting to annoy Dilandau any more than he already had with the necessary information that he'd been sent to give him.

As they rounded the corner and came into viewing distance of Hitomi's guards, Dilandau let out a roar of rage. Percival shrank away from the furious albino, never having seen him quite this angry, and peered around him to see what had caused such a reaction.

Before them stood two Dragon Slayers, who were in fact Shesta and Miguel standing about and looking rather confused while a third was entangled with Hitomi. At least, he assumed it was Hitomi since Dilandau was so angry. He thought that he could recall Folken saying something along the lines of Dilandau caring a bit more than was natural about his most recently captured prisoner.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Dilandau demanded as he looked at the compromising situation before him.

The two soldiers that stood on either side of the door looked at Dilandau in fear and shame. Dallete looked mortified and couldn't quite bring himself back to the situation enough to get himself away from Hitomi.

"Get off of me!" Hitomi shrieked, renewing her efforts to get away from Dallete's grasp. The Dragon Slayers watching finally pulled their comrade away, but not before Hitomi lashed out a kick and managed to strike the young man in the groin.

Dilandau looked at each of the four before him in turn while Percival looked around the hall, not really wanting to get involved in this little mess. Though he was quite certain the Lord Folken would be amused by it.

"ANYONE?" Dilandau shouted, not succeeding in getting anyone to explain exactly what he'd seen. He looked to Shesta and Miguel, who were supposed to be guarding Hitomi. "Did he pay you _NOT_ to stop him?"

Both shook their heads. "No, Lord Dilandau," they answered simultaneously.

He turned his attention to Dallete. "WHAT, may I ask, makes you think that you can treat _MY_ prisoner in such a fashion?" The soldier remained speechless as he looked at the ground and Dilandau rubbed his temples, trying to calm down. This day was starting to give him a headache. His armored hand lashed out and stuck the silent man across the face, turning it red and causing a crack to echo down the empty hall.

"Take him to the dungeons and lock him up next to Van," he ordered after awhile. "I'm not sure if I want to kill him or torture him until he begs for death."

He watched as they escorted Dallete out of sight and then let all of his attention turn to the only person still standing in front of him. Hitomi was completely red from her struggle and embarrassment, and tears were threatening to fall. It was obvious that she'd felt some fear during her ordeal, but Dilandau didn't care. Right now he was to angry to care, or to bother to remember that he was supposed to be trying to change.

"Did you want him?" he asked, his voice expressing all seriousness.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? A WHORE?" she screeched with fury, her tears falling and staining the stones beneath her feet and her face contorted with the anger she was feeling. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM!" She panted for a minuet, seeming to have calmed down some. "Maybe you should talk to your little pets," she hissed vehemently. "They didn't exactly jump in to help me."

Dilandau didn't think and Percival didn't have time to stop him. He hit Hitomi above her right eye, causing blood to well immediately. Thankfully, he didn't hit her hard enough to cause any bones in her face to break as Dallete's cheek had.

"No one speaks to me that way!" he warned her, threatening that next time the punishment would be worse. "Especially a prisoner. You should be more careful, or else you'll be right back in the dungeons where you belong."

"Lord Folken will be waiting by now, Lord Dilandau," Percival reminded him, hoping to distract him from the girl who'd merely been offended by his brusque comments.

Dilandau nodded. "Come on Hitomi. We've got places to be. Lord Folken has requested your presence as well."

As Hitomi and Percival walked behind Dilandau no slower than they dared, the messenger pulled out a handkerchief and moved to wipe away the blood that was threatening to fall into Hitomi's eye."

"Don't bother, Percival," he called to the messenger lagging behind him. "We've got to hurry before Folken gets too impatient."

Percival gave Hitomi a look of pity and a shrug. Hitomi nodded her thanks for the kind gesture anyway. At least he'd thought to help. She was sure that none of the Dragon Slayers would have ever bothered.


	19. My Will

**Chapter 19: My Will**

Folken's door opened before Dilandau could even bother to knock. Percival ran to enter the room before him and made a deep bow to his employer.

"Lord Folken, I present Lord Dilandau and the Lady Hitomi," he announced, hoping that he remembered the girl's name correctly.

"Thank you, Percival," Folken answered, a note of irritation shining in his voice as he looked sternly at Dilandau. "You may go."

Percival bowed again, turned to Dilandau and Hitomi, bowed to them, and made his way hastily for the door from whence they'd entered.

"Dilandau," Folken started, getting to the point quickly, "How long ago did you interrogate my brother?"

Dilandau thought about it and nearly cringed. Folken had obviously figured out that he had sent the report after interrogating. He openly admitted this and waited for Folken's response. It wasn't worth lying about something when Folken already knew the truth.

"Can I assume then that you used rather harsh methods in this interrogation?"

"I only hit the little fool twice," Dilandau answered vaguely, as though it was some major accomplishment.

Folken hissed and drummed his fingers against the arms of his chair, as if trying to restrain himself. Hitomi watched as he absently began to rub the tear tattoo that adorned his cheek.

"What do you plan to do with her?" he asked, changing the subject suddenly as he nodded in Hitomi's direction. "Certainly you know that the Mystic Moon is cursed."

Hitomi could barely keep herself from laughing. They thought that Earth was cursed? What were they smoking?

"It appears to me that when Van escaped and took her with him, they became quite good friends," Dilandau offered, though his tone was mocking. "With your permission, I think that we can use her to root out what Van refuses to tell us. I know that Schezar has told him of his little plots. Even if Fanel doesn't have Astoria on his side anymore, I don't think that Allen will want to give up on helping him. I'm certain he'll be able to round up enough troops from other countries to give us a little bit of trouble."

Folken rolled his eyes. "I'm not worried about Schezar. King Aston should be able to keep his knights under his control." He stood, and looked back and forth between Dilandau. "She's quite the catch, isn't she?" he asked, and Hitomi couldn't quite understand what he meant.

Dilandau growled, but refused to say anything on the matter.

"Why is it that you landed the Vione without telling me that you planned to do so? You waste my time when you go through such childish antics, you know."

Dilandau didn't seem to have an answer ready for Folken. He stayed in silence until Hitomi was the one to break it.

"He landed because of me," she told him, her voice small even with the echo that came about in the quiet room. All of the equipment seemed to be dead. "I wouldn't leave him or Jajuka alone until he did."

Dilandau gave her a look that shot her back to silence, but Folken was greatly amused and laughed.

"In that case, I congratulate you. Not many people can get him to bend to their will."

"I didn't bend down to anyone's will!" Dilandau shouted, causing the room to make more than the slight echo that it had been giving off previously. "I did it because I wanted to. If I hadn't wanted to we would have arrived at the castle hours ago."

Folken nodded. "True that." He stood with a sigh. "Dilandau you are dismissed. I'm going to see my brother, and I expect that you will not interfere."

Dilandau nodded and turned go. Hitomi went to follow, but Folken stopped her.

"I think that I'd like you to come with me," he told her. Dilandau looked as though he was about to protest, but Folken gave him a look that sent him out the door with a quick bow to his superior.

"I don't think that Dilandau wants me to see Van, Lord Folken."

Folken chuckled. "Hitomi, it isn't about what Dilandau wants when it comes to Van. It's about what I want. Dilandau merely tends to forget that little fact sometimes."

**Van**

He was awakened from a fitful slumber as a commotion arose outside of his cell. Blinking, he leaned his ear as close to the door as he could get it, seeing as to he was still tied to the chair.

"Get the hell away from me!" screamed a man's voice, and Van cringed as the obscenities that he uttered became worse and worse as the voice drew nearer. It would have been enough to make a sailor blush, he was sure.

He jumped when he heard the door to the cell next to him hit the stone wall outside of his own cell hard.

"I didn't do anything!" shouted the voice, among other things. "Traitors! How could you do this to me!"

"We just followed orders," came another voice.

"You'd better hope that Dilandau doesn't decide to kill you," said another.

"Dilandau wouldn't kill me over some little girl!"

The door slammed closed. "Remember," called a receding voice to the prisoner next to him, "that he killed Gatti over the same little girl just because she said something Dilandau didn't like."

Van immediately assumed that they were talking about Hitomi. He listened carefully to the prisoner, wondering who he was exactly. "It has to be one of Dilandau's Dragon Slayers," he thought aloud to himself quietly.

He didn't realize that he'd fallen asleep again until his own door slammed open, causing him to jump. He looked to see who had entered his cell so rudely, half expecting to see Dilandau, but was completely surprised to see his brother.

**Hitomi**

Hitomi stayed silent as Folken walked in front of her. It made her nervous when she realized that she recognized the way that they were going. With a shudder, she hung unconsciously closer to the form of Folken.

Folken was chatting lazily about Mystic Moon and other small things that she wasn't paying attention to. She was only pulled back to reality when Folken waved a black handkerchief in her face.

"That's a horrible cut," he told her gently. "You ought to have one of the maids clean it for you later. It would be a shame if it scarred."

"I don't really care about scars that much," she answered honestly, taking the piece of fabric and holding to her eyebrow.

"He's getting better about his temper you know," he told her.

"Who is?"

"Dilandau. He didn't try to argue with half of what I said. Usually he manages to find something to disagree with and refuses to fall silent until his voice is heard."

Folken fell silent and stared in astonishment at the cell in which a loudmouth was screaming about being innocent in terms that were much less than diplomatic. Shaking his head, moved to the next cell and watched as the guards moved out of his way hastily. For a moment, when Folken opened the door, they tried to block Hitomi and she wasn't about to argue.

Folken, however, gave them a frown. "She will be admitted," he told them firmly, and they bowed, moving to let her pass.

**Allen**

None of the crews searches had turned up anything on Van or Hitomi, concluding the fact that Zaibach had taken them. This was the last thing that he needed right now. He sighed in aggravation. Without proof that Dilandau really had taken them, King Aston wouldn't do anything to help him get them back. With the Zaibach alliance, he was sure that Aston wouldn't even want him to mount another rescue attack. He'd been rather upset about the first one, saying that now he'd have to apologize for the stupidity of one man.

This really wasn't good. If King Aston saw fit to do so, he could remove Allen from his position as a Knight Caelei and then the whole rebellion would be stopped in mid-step. All of his resources to help Van's cause would be lost.

"I tried to tell you," came Millerna's voice. "I begged him not to, but he said that it was the only way to keep them from destroying our country. He didn't want to end up like Fanelia did."

"What can we do about Van?" Merle wailed from behind the princess.

"I don't know. I don't even know how we're going to stop Zaibach from taking over. King Aston has already pulled his troops from our station, and God only knows how long it will be before he tells Folken and Emperor Dornkirk where the rebellion's main headquarters are. I knew it was a bad idea to keep them outside of the Astorian border."

"We can always move the troops," Merle screamed. "but we need to get Van back!"

"I KNOW!" he took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm sorry. We have to take care of first things first. We'll have to plan the rescue with the troops that we know are still loyal. King Aston will expect me to give up my part of the rebellion as well."

"Don't bother to give up, Allen. I won't be saying anything to my father. You can count on me to help take care of the injured since we've lost most of our doctors. Where can we move headquarters? It has to be someplace that my father won't think of."

"But it has to be someplace where you two won't get caught if the King finds out that you're running around. He'll put you both in prison if he finds out that you broke the alliance already." Merle seemed more calm now that she knew there were plans to put in another rescue mission.

"That's it! Merle are there any buildings in Fanelia that are still in good enough repair to house a few hundred soldiers?" Allen asked eagerly.

"Sure. The castle's basement wasn't harmed at all, and there are a few houses nearby that couldn't be completely ruined because the bases were made of stone."

"Good. We're close enough to Fanelia to be back in a few hours of hard riding, should the king need us, and no one will think to look for rebels in a ruined country. Millerna, can you get to the camp and tell them to head for Fanelia?"

"Not right away. I have to attend dinner with my father and the Zaibach ambassadors. It would look funny if I was missing. Honestly I would think that my father would be expecting you as well. He'll want his finest knights on duty."

"Merle can go then." She nodded her consent. "Be sure to wait until we're occupied so that none of the Zaibach soldiers can see where you're headed."

A/N: Wahoo! Another chapter down. It's been awhile since Allen's had his say, hasn't it? I hope that all of you enjoy the chapter. This one is for all of my new readers! Thanks everyone! ;p


	20. Complete Blank

**Chapter 20: Complete Blank**

All Hitomi could do was stare. She couldn't believe that the figure she was seeing was Van. He looked much thinner, after only a few days of imprisonment, and his face looked pale against the dark bruises that were spreading across his jaw.

"I suppose that you demand to know everything that I didn't tell Dilandau?" Van hissed vehemently. He looked disgusted at the thought of seeing his brother again so soon. "I've already told him that I don't know anything."

"I'm sure they must have told you something," Folken told him lightly, inspecting the bashed face of the boy he'd grown so distant from. "But that's not why I'm here."

"No? Did you have enough after they burned your country to the ground? Oh wait. I forgot that you're a traitor to your own family."

"Van I thought that we had discussed this already. Must we argue over the same thing time and again?"

Hitomi tuned out their words. She didn't want to hear any more. Obviously this war had hurt too many people. Enough people in fact, that families could hardly stand the sight of each other. This was something that she hoped wouldn't happen to Earth. It was something that she couldn't stand.

"Hitomi?" Van called, as though trying to call her back from a distant memory. She shook her head and gave him her full attention, wondering if she'd missed out on something important.

"Is something wrong?" Folken wanted to know.

Hitomi looked back and forth between them, starting to get a little bit irritated. Of course something was wrong! She was trapped on a foreign planet as a prisoner to an abusive psycho who went crazy anytime someone said something that he didn't want to hear, and she told them as much.

She thought Folken would be angry, but instead a let out a small chuckle and turned away from his brother. Van was thoroughly nodding his agreement.

"You make a good point," Folken told her. "While your release isn't under my jurisdiction, I can see what I can do about swaying Dilandau to loosen his control. As for you, Van, I doubt that he would let you go. You're quite the little prize to him."

Van growled. "That's all we are to Zaibach no matter who we are. Little prizes to be fooled around with. Hitomi doesn't even have anything to do with this war, but she isn't even allowed to go."

"I've already told you that it's not my choice who Dilandau chooses to free or keep. I will talk to him, but there isn't anything that I can do or say to guarantee anyone's release." He paused as if he'd just thought of something important. "I think that we shall be going now, Van. I've just remembered that I need to speak with Emperor Dornkirk."

Hitomi followed with hesitation, stopping to say goodbye to Van, though she didn't want to lose sight of Folken.

"We'll get out of here somehow, Hitomi," Van promised, and she fled after a nod, hoping that Folken had waited for her.

**Dilandau**

He sat in his study, thoughtfully drumming his fingers against the desk in front of him while staring at the chair that Hitomi had occupied seemingly hours ago. His guilty conscience was getting to him. Before this he hadn't even been aware that he had a guilty conscience.

His fingers stopped their drumming as he stared at the hand that had so forcefully hit the girl from the Mystic Moon. Why had he done it? He knew that it wasn't her fault. Dallete was clearly the one to blame. Hitomi was a little too timid to get involved with anything like that of her own free will. He really ought to be able to trust her. But seriously. How many foreigners had he met in all of his years in the military that had actually been trustworthy? None that he could recall, but none of them had been from the Mystic Moon.

He shook his head, wanting to clear the thoughts from his mind. If he thought much longer he would come to conclusions that he knew he wouldn't like. He sat in bliss for awhile, thinking of nothing, only staring blankly out the window that was positioned behind his chair.

A knock made his mind click back into working order. He yelled gruffly for them to come in, not really caring who might enter, but knowing that he probably wasn't going to pay them much heed.

"Lord Folken," came Percival's annoying voice again, making the Albino want to scream, "wishes to inform you that he will be leaving momentarily to arrive back at the castle in time for a meeting with the Emperor."

"Folken is free to come an go as he wishes," Dilandau responded, "and I really don't care when he chooses or come or go."

"But he wishes to speak to you before he does so."

"I'm afraid that I don't have the time, Percival. I have work that needs to get done. I'm getting ready to launch another campaign against that stupid rebellion. What does he want?"

"If you don't go see him he'll want a report on the use of keeping that girl around. It will entail why you find it necessary to hit her. I'm sure that Lord Folken won't want that left out."

"GET OUT NOW!!!" Dilandau screamed, throwing a paper weight, or something of the sort, at Percival and narrowly missing that man's head. He'd been doing so well keeping his thoughts off of Hitomi and he'd just ruined that.

Percival ran out without bothering to bow, fully intending to give a report on such a rude display of anger.

A/N: I know that this chapter was short, and I'm sorry. I'm also sorry to announce that while the work of this story won't be halted completely, it will be aggravatingly slow to be updated. I have a senior project due in three months that I'm writing a novella for and I actually need a novella to pass. If you guys wouldn't mind helping me out by reviewing my project at (posting it online is part of the project) it's titled "Music For My Soul" under Erin A. Menz. Thanks for reading guys!


	21. Sorry Doesn't Account For Much

A/N: I was so happy to write out this nice long Dilly and Hitomi scene for the fans that wanted it, I just wanted to hurry up and get it posted as soon as I could. Yes that's right. This chapter focuses only on Dilandau and Hitomi. Whoo! A little sappy, I know, but I just couldn't help myself. (For those who requested it, the link to my senior project novella "Music For My Soul" is listed on my profile.) I hope that all of you enjoy this chapter greatly. Thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated in a review format! ;p (But what other format would we use here any way?)

**Chapter 21: Sorry Doesn't Account For Much**

Dilandau couldn't believe that he stood outside of Hitomi's door with the purpose that was on his mind. He stood there nervously, wondering deep down why he was nervous in the first place. It wasn't as if this was an unnatural occurrence with everyone else in the world.

Oh wait, he thought to himself, I'm not everyone else. I don't apologize.

Yet here he was outside of Hitomi's door, posing to knock, once he gained up enough courage, to apologize. Oh who was he kidding? He was apologizing, not proposing. Who needed courage to apologize?

In one brief spasm he knocked and proceeded to rip the door open, scaring Hitomi and causing her to jump away from the book that Laura had brought her from the library. Funny. He hadn't much taken her for the reading type. Of course, he was sure that she hadn't taken him for the apologetic type. She stared at him, almost in horror, and he was surprised to find that he almost felt hurt because of it.

"I thought now would be a good time for a nice little chat," he told her, never letting his unease show.

She turned back to her book, marking the page and closing it. "Well I haven't got much choice in the matter then, now do I?" She sounded neither irritated nor interested, and it made it hard for him to read her.

"I'd like to say that I'm sorry," he told her, looking at the floor for a moment before he dared to look at her eyes, where the cause of the apology would distract him from his train of thought.

An angry flash of fire filled her gaze as she spun around to face him, and she opened her mouth to say something, probably to yell some rude thing or another, but she stopped herself, turning back to trace the title of the book, which he couldn't see from across the room.

"You're free to speak your mind," he said, words that he'd never bothered to speak before. He braced himself for what she would say, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't lose control.

She sighed, a sound that came out tired and heavy.

"I won't be speaking anything," she said evenly, turning only her head to look at him. "Not if you're simply going to take it out on Van once you're finished here."

Dilandau thought for a minuet, staring at her back as he tried to come up with something that wouldn't sound harsh. This was a delicate situation, and it wasn't one that he wanted to end up badly.

"You have my word that I won't," he said, a little irritated that he had to promise not to harm his key prisoner in order to get another prisoner to speak with him.

She approached him now, keeping an arm's length away should he attempt to try anything. "Sorry doesn't account for much. What else can I say? How am I to know what's happened before won't happen again? Promises don't always get kept, Lord Dilandau. You of all people should know that."

Her words sounded bitter and cold, cutting him like a dull knife that he didn't know had been put to his heart. He didn't know how to respond to it. In battle he could have dodged the bullet and killed the one who'd attempted to slay him. Killing her wouldn't do any good. That would be like proving her point to be a fact dipped in solid gold. It was his turn to sigh. How many men had gone through this sort of predicament before him? His head assured him that it was an outrageously high number. Something else told him that men always have to try.

"You take things out on me that weren't even my fault in the first place," she told him, breaking the awkward silence for him. "You act like I shouldn't be concerned with getting back to my world, or my family. Don't you know what it's like to have the people you love the most ripped away from you?"

He shook his head. The only person that he could ever remember taking care of him was Jajuka, and now the soldier was his own to command. He'd never been gone. He couldn't say what it felt like to lose anyone important. Sure he'd lost soldiers in battle, but that couldn't be helped. He couldn't just mope around over the lose of a few good men when there were battles to be won.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking at the tears that began to brim her eyes. "I haven't been through half the things that you've been through, I'm sure. But you have to remember, that there are things that you'll never be able to guess about me as well. Our experiences on different planets will just vary. It's something that we have to deal with."

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?" she shrieked, making the soldiers outside the open door jump. "Why do you think that I want to get home so badly? This world isn't mine. I don't think that it ever will be. Sorry doesn't change anything. Sorry won't change the fact that there are always going to be memories about the times here that I just wanted to lay down and die."

He turned away from her as the tears started to fall. He didn't want to see her cry. He couldn't see her cry.

"I'd do almost anything if you would forgive me. I want you to know that."

"So let me go! Let Van go. Help me let the past go."

He cringed, knowing that he should have expected her request. "I've told you before that I don't know how to get you home. If I can't get you home, then the only place for me to let you go is with Van, and I can't let Van go. Van is crucial to this war. Without him, the rebellion has nothing. If he's here, he can't talk the King of Astoria out of our treaty. The only other place is with Allen and his group, right in the middle of the war. No, I can't free you completely. Roam where you want to on this ship, Hitomi, but I can't let you do any more than that. If you want to go home so badly, eventually we'll find a way to get you there, but if you end up dead, then the people you miss will have to miss you forever."

His words surprised even himself, but deep down he knew that he really meant them. He listened for Hitomi, wondering if she would have a response, wondering if now she would hate him even more. She said nothing, but for him, the sobs he heard behind him said it all.

"I have to head for the front tomorrow, but perhaps when I get back, we can talk again."

"Just go," she said through her tears. "I need to be left alone."

He nodded and left, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to see the gesture if her face was buried in her hands like he suspected. He left at her request, but he wondered if she wanted him to leave the room, or leave this ship and die out in the war effort against the rebellion.


	22. Movement

A/N: For those of you who asked for the URL to my senior project, I'd posted the wrong one. I've fixed that, so now you'll be able to leave reviews. And speaking of reviews…I broke 100 reviews with this story! Yay! I'm excited since it's the first time I've ever had anything in the triple digits. Hell. Most of my stuff is still in the single digits here _and_ at FictionPress. Not to mention that this is currently my longest story with more than one chapter as well. I know that it's been awhile since I've updated, so on with the show!

**Chapter 22: Movement**

Once she had calmed down, Hitomi was rather eager to test the new limits that Dilandau had set for her. She flung the door open, pretending to still be in a huff, knowing that soldiers outside would probably believe that she was.

Miguel and Shesta were still the ones who guarded her, and she wondered if her guards would be at least one of them at all times. It certainly was a vexing thought. She jumped a mile high when they turned to face her and jumped to attention, giving her the same sharp salute they would give Dilandau.

Hitomi rolled her eyes in mock irritation. "He honestly still thinks that I need to be guarded at every waking minuet?"

"Lady Hitomi," Miguel started cautiously, the title seeming to have a sour taste on his tongue, "We're now here only to make sure that you don't fall under attack. Lord Dilandau will keep his promise in letting you go where you please."

She acted skeptical. "Even the dungeons?"

Both of them cringed.

"Yes," Shesta told her with a grimace. "Though Jajuka will be asked to attend to you to make sure that nothing…goes astray. Lord Dilandau was the one who decided this, and that's the way that it will stay until he commands otherwise." He sounded as though he thought that she would try to go against anything that Dilandau said.

She wasn't sure if they were referring to the incident with Dallete, or trying to break Van out of his ghastly prison. Still, she nodded her consent to the idea and took an experimental step forward. They parted to let her pass, letting their hands fall to their sides.

With a shrug she turned to the left, looking behind her to see if either one of them would reach forward to stop her from going in this direction. Neither stirred, though they looked as if they wished to do so.

After a curt nod, she went on her way, hearing them shut the door as she turned the corner, stopping abruptly as she nearly clashed head on with Laura.

"Hitomi!" she cried in surprise, nearly dropping her load of towels and sheets. "Gracious, you gave me a fright. What are you doing out and about?"

"Whatever I please, apparently," she told the maid sarcastically, taking some of the load from her arms before she could protest. "Dilandau has decided that I'm allowed to wonder about."

Laura's eyes widened in surprise. "So you finally get to be more guest than prisoner. What prompted that, do you suppose? I must say that it's about time. "

"I couldn't say. Let me help you. I'd go see Van, but the dimwits at my door tell me that Jajuka has to be with me for that, and I've no clue where I would go to find him. I've got nothing better to do. "

Laura said nothing, but continued on her way, Hitomi following her only to receive strange looks from Miguel and Shesta as she went by less than five minuets after she'd left holding an armload of laundry.

**Allen**

The rebellion headquarters had been successfully moved to the ruins of Fanelia. With a lot of help from Merle, everyone was settled quickly and the place was still left simply looking like a place destroyed by fire.

This was ideal. Now anyone flying overhead would only see Fanelian peasantry, really soldiers dressed as peasants, digging through the remains of their homes…if they somehow managed to see anything at all.

Allen paced, wondering how they would ever manage to keep this operation a secret now that Zaibach held the upper hand with King Aston. If they were found, they would all be killed, especially the members of the Astorian army who'd deserted for the cause against their new oppressors.

"Discreet word is still being sent to more countries about this," Gaddess told him, but it wasn't helping. "We're being careful not to spread anything but lies of our destruction to the countries that have made any sort of alliance or treaty with Zaibach."

"Good," Allen mumbled, slamming his hands down on his desk. "Be sure to keep good track of who's making those treaties and alliances, as well as who's decided to break them. Thos are the ones that will be of help."

"You got it, Commander."

"Has there been any word on Dilandau? Or on Van and Hitomi?"

Gaddess shook his head. "Nothing on Van and Hitomi, Sir. It would appear that no one really knows about Hitomi, and not many have heard about Van, or if they have they're under orders not to say anything. They wouldn't want another little invasion, you see. As for Dilandau, word says that he moving towards the front. His troops are supposed to take on Norte, a long time supporter of Fanelia. They have no interest whatsoever in making any sort of arrangement with Zaibach. They've actually put embargoes on anything to or from Zaibach."

Allen let a chuckle escape from his lips. "Norte controls the vast majority of the metal mines that Zaibach and their allies need for armor and weapons. This is good. I only hope that King Aston won't try to persuade them to Zaibach's cause."

"Oh they won't, Commander. Norte has already made it clear that they will not listen to anyone telling them to take up arms with Zaibach. They threatened to put an embargo on Astoria as well. They said that the moment Astoria attempts to give arms to Zaibach, the embargo will be placed on them as well. I've sent Reeden to Norte to keep us updated as to when they'll be sending a few covert men to help us out."

A/N: It's short, I know, but I wanted to make sure that you knew I hadn't died or anything.


	23. A Little Cranky

A/N: I honestly haven't died, I swear! And I'm sorry that I've kept you all waiting for so long. Music For My Soul has taken a lot of time, and Spring Sports have started, so I have a ton of practices. That and I'm doing a short story for a writing contest to start a small college saving's fund. Enough excuses. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, and…here we go!

**Chapter 23: A Little Cranky**

He hadn't died. That much he could tell from the pain that he was feeling. He just had to hope that Hitomi wouldn't be too disappointed to see him back alive. Then again, she'd probably worked most of her anger out of her system. He'd simply have to ask Miguel and Shesta to report on her activity to find out.

He groaned when he felt his wrist begin to ache. He had fractured it when he'd hit his the side of his cockpit of his melef in anger. The battle hadn't looked good then. They'd waited and waited for Norte to show up, but in the end his men had been the butt of a sneak attack. It had certainly been one long week of hell.

His men had fended off the enemy, leaving them with drastically declined numbers, but he'd be out plenty of men for some time. He couldn't keep track of all of their wounds. Hell. He could barely keep track of his own.

Not only was there his fractured wrist, but a lovely sword cut on his cheek from the point when his energist had been destroyed and he'd had to jump out to defend himself. It was going to leave a ghastly scar. He heard all of his men mentioning it in whispers, though they cut off such conversations abruptly when they found that he was within hearing range.

It hurt him somewhere deep inside to think that they would have to leave all of the melefs behind when they began the long march home, so bad was the damage. Too many wouldn't even be able to be used again, even if they could somehow get them back to the Vione. He'd already had to send one three of his squires to maintain horses for himself and the men who wouldn't be able to handle the walk back. It would take them days to make it that far.

He'd ordered Jajuka to remain at the castle, mostly to make sure that Hitomi and the few men there didn't get into any major trouble. When he rode up to the castle, he took in the sight of Jajuka, loyally waiting for him out front. Most of the staff were there as well, ready to help with the baggage and those who would need to be carried inside to see medical staff.

"Hitomi?" he questioned Jajuka, noticing that the girl wasn't present. He was too tired to say anything more. He felt as though he was about to fall over just thinking about the thought of a nice warm bed.

"I haven't heard much of her. She's been seen with her maid, mostly. Shesta and Miguel haven't had any problems from her. She hasn't even requested to see King Van since you've been gone."

He nodded, too tired to do much else. "Make sure that everything and everyone gets settles back in the proper places. I want all of the mortally wounded looked at first, anyone with a lesser injury can wait."

"Lord Dilandau, what about you? Shouldn't someone from the medical personal take a look at your wounds?"

Dilandau waved his hand to bid off the thought of waiting for treatment. "I'll live until the others have been looked at. Right now, all I care about is getting a decent amount of sleep."

Jajuka was too astounded to say anything else. Before, his Lord would have demanded to be treated first, long before the medical staff was tired and too moody to handle any more patients.

"And Jajuka?"

"I'm listening, Lord Dilandau," he said lightly, following closely behind the albino to reassure himself that he would make it to his chambers without passing out in some odd hallway.

"I'll want to see Lady Hitomi at breakfast in the morning, once I'm fully rested."

"As you wish, my lord."

**Hitomi**

"You're kidding me!" Hitomi shouted, pulling at her short blonde locks the second that Laura had brought news that Dilandau had returned home. "I'd hoped that he'd never come back."

"Oh, honestly," Laura said, putting her hands on her hips and giving the look that said she was about to start out on a rant. "Don't tell me that you're still sour, Lady Hitomi. Lord Dilandau will hear word of it soon enough, you know. I doubt that the thought would make him very pleased."

The girl rolled her eyes. "No! It's impractical to stay angry for so long. I just thought it would take him a little longer than a week to completely trample the opposing army. Besides, it's not like Shesta or Miguel are going to wake Dilandau from the little nap that I'm sure he's taking at the moment just to tell him that I'm still angry." The last was said a little too loud, so that she was certain that her body guards wouldn't get any sort of funny ideas into their heads.

Their hissing let her know that they'd heard her words and were seriously reconsidering any plans that they'd had of seeing him immediately to give any kind of bad report on her behavior. It was just as well that she hadn't done anything wrong in the first place.

"Master Jajuka has also sent word saying that Dilandau will be seeing you tomorrow morning for breakfast, just as soon as he's fully rested."

"Great," Hitomi started sarcastically, "that means that I get to sleep in until sometime in the afternoon, right? I mean, I'm fairly certain that he's going to be needing to catch up on quite a bit of sleep."

Laura couldn't help but chuckle. "Lady Hitomi, Lord Dilandau has always been an early riser, whether he needs the extra sleep or no. If anything, he'll just slip into bed early tomorrow as well. He'll be ravenous in the morning too, because I'm certain he'll be skipping dinner to catch up on his sleep. Watch out. He's cranky when he's hungry."

Hitomi wasn't sure how to take Laura's advice. "Like he's not cranky in the first place. He's talked like he's had a stick up his butt every time I've seen him except for the last time when he talked like he was trying _too_ hard to get the stick out of his butt."

"You really shouldn't think of people so critically."

"And you have never in your life thought the same thing about Dilandau?"

Laura put her hands out over her head. "I digress my lady. You make an extremely good point."

A/N: Okay, I know it's not longer, but I hope you all liked it alright. And by now you should officially know that I suck at writing out battle scenes and thereafter…which is the big reason why I skipped out on writing that. Sorry. I hope that it won't take as long to get the next chapter done, but senior year is being a little hectic.


	24. Another Eruption

-1A/N: Yes it has been yet another aggravatingly long wait for this chapter. But look on the bright side: It's FINALLY Here. Music For My Soul is over (my last update was posted on March 29th) which STILL didn't give me much time to write to this because of all the college preparations. My only hope is that this chapter was worth the wait.

**Chapter 24: Another Eruption**

Hitomi wasn't overly pleased the next morning when Laura slammed the door against the stone wall in the haste to wake her. The girl from the Mystic Moon, however, was too tired to care about Laura's antics for the time being and merely rolled over and let her eyes fall closed once more. Her eyes snapped open again the moment she fell victim to Laura's vigorous shaking.

"You have to get up Lady Hitomi. If you're late for breakfast, Lord Dilandau won't be happy. He's already up, God only knows how long it will be before he calls the cooks to get the meal started."

Hitomi cracked open an eye to peek out the window, finding to her dismay that it was still dark. "Well he can eat without me while I sleep for a few more hours and then sit and talk blather on about forgiveness and the horrors of war while _I_ eat my breakfast at a decent hour."

"My Lady, you really should get up. We have to get you ready before Dilandau calls you."

"I'm afraid that he has, just now," came the voice of Jajuka. "He said to tell the Lady Hitomi that breakfast will be served promptly in an hour." It looked as if the man was trying his best to ignore the fact that Hitomi was still in bed.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Hitomi protested behind a yawn as she attempted to prop herself up on one arm. "What time is it?"

"Four o'clock," answered both Laura and Jajuka at the same time.

"Have a good morning, Lady Hitomi. I shall see you soon," he said, turning and walking promptly out the door.

"No morning is good until noon," she mumbled, trying again to drag the blankets back over head. "Let me sleep for another ten minuets or so. Maybe then I'll be up for dealing with Dilandau's antics."

"Absolutely not!" Laura decreed, yanking the blanks from Hitomi's bed and throwing them to the other side of the room. "We have to get you ready. Dilandau won't be pleased to find you late or lacking in appropriate attire."

"Then he'd better consider pajamas appropriate attire, because I'm going to be sleeping for every second that I can spare, and looking good for a satirical soldier is not on top of my list of priorities."

"You can't keep putting this off. You have to get up!"

Hitomi placed her pillow over her head in defiance and rolled over onto her stomach. The second that Laura heard small, muffled snores, she pulled the pillow out of Hitomi's hands and threw it across the room only to land on top of the blankets.

"Next time, my Lady, I'll be sure to have one of the guards throw _you_ across the room. Now please, just get up so that I can do my job and be done with it."

Hitomi let out a long sigh of defeat and rolled from her bed, not at all happy to be up before her usual time of seven. That was the earliest she'd ever had to get up, and now she had to rise before the sun just to suit Dilandau's whim.

Laura said that the albino was going to be cranky before he got his breakfast? Ha! She was going to be cranky all morning, until she could find the time to catch up on her sleep. Maybe he'd be a little less cranky if he let himself get a decent amount of sleep before that breakfast that he wanted so badly. Damn that soldier anyway; making the whole Levi ship get up with him.

"I think he makes everyone get up this early so that they'll be cranky and have to hide it. That way when they don't hide it, they'll get him in a tizzy, and he'll just be able to yell at whoever he so pleases," Hitomi said out loud as she washed the sleep from her eyes.

Laura chuckled, but said nothing. She only continued to search the wardrobe for a dress that would be appropriate for Hitomi. The blonde continued to say things of the same general line of thinking as she scrubbed her hair in the tub that Laura had set in the corner.

"I've never had to get up this early before now. I'm half tempted to lock all of you people out and go back to bed until he comes to break down the door. Then we'll see who didn't succeed in getting the stick out of his butt."

"You shouldn't talk that way," Laura chided as she laid out a dress of soft yellow and rummaged for a pair of shoes that would match.

"Don't tell me that you're going to make me walk in heels before dawn rears its ugly head. I wouldn't be able to handle it. I'd twist my ankle for sure. But then again, I could 'accidentally' stomp on Dilandau's toes and see how he likes dealing with my cranky persona." She let a small smile flit across her face as the thought passed through her head.

"Oh stop it. Don't be so ridiculous," Laura scolded. "You'll be fine. And you won't be wearing heels. You'll be in slippers, if I can find them. They're much more comfortable and much more appropriate for such informal events."

"Yes, because I doubt that Dilandau would make Lord Folken come to breakfast at five in the morning. What ever happened to eight in the morning? Even better: What happened to brunch?"

"It doesn't matter what _you _think. It doesn't even matter what _I_ think. It only matters what Dilandau thinks about it because he's in charge. Now put this dress on so I can start working on your hair."

"I hate yellow," Hitomi mumbled as she slipped the dress over her head, really just complaining so that she could complain. "Does it have to be yellow?"

"I don't have the time to dig out slippers to match another color. You'll just have to deal with it. I don't think that I have time to do much with your hair. We may just have to skip to make-up. We'll need to get rid of the bags under your eyes."

"Getting rid of the bags is fine, but I'm really not much of a make-up person. Have you ever seen me wear make-up?"

"No, Lady Hitomi, I haven't, but I believe that it was safe for me to assume that the only reason you didn't was because in the past it wasn't available."

"Well you were wrong. It makes me feel like I've got plaster stuck to my face all day," she protested while Laura dabbed some concoction or another under her eyes to make the bags disappear.

"Well I for one think that you look just fine without it," came the familiar cold voice of Dilandau as Laura was just wiping the remnants of the liquid from her fingers. "I hope that you won't keep me waiting much longer."

A glance at the clock revealed that it was 5:01. Hitomi had to bite her tongue to keep from shouting that it wasn't considered waiting until 5:15. Instead, she walked to the door, barely resisting the urge to shut it in his face.

"I thought that I was going to meet you there," she said, doing her best to sound charismatic.

"Well it's not polite to leave a Lady to wonder to breakfast without an escort, so I took the liberty of providing my services."

"Thank you, so much Lord Dilandau. What would I ever do without an escort?" she drawled, not able to resist the slightest bit of sarcasm.

Dilandau chuckled, not seeming the least bit put out by her slight comment. "I take it that you're not much of a morning person?"

It was clearly meant to be a joke, and Hitomi couldn't see what was funny about it. She had to bite her lip to keep from saying something that she knew she would regret. She cleared her throat, wondering if he realized how annoyed she was at the moment.

"What ever gave that little clue away?"

"You don't seem overly chipper," the albino replied, continuing on his way as if nothing that had been said was out of the ordinary.

They continued on in silence until they reached the Great Hall, which Hitomi didn't think was really that great, seeing as it was in a compact ship. Tapestries hung on every available space on the stone walls, which kept the room from echoing. Two red carpets crossed each other at the room's center; each leading to the different entrances, though the carpet they walked on now ended at the opposite wall where there was no door.

Breakfast was laid out on a long table in the Halls center. There were two chairs sitting on opposite ends of the table, and with its length, Hitomi had to wonder how they would even hear what the other was saying without shouting. The table itself was strewn with all manner of things from exotic fruits which Hitomi had never before seen the likes of, to some manner of biscuits and gravy. She shouldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight of it all. Dilandau honestly forced the cooks to get up before dawn to put all of this together for two people? She had no doubt that Van was slowly wasting away in the dungeon, while Dilandau attempted to spoil her with more food than two people could ever possibly eat.

"Please take a seat, Hitomi," he said, pulling out the chair that was closest to them and making sure she was seated comfortably before he moved to the other end of the table.

"And to think that there are people in the third world countries on my planet starving to death while I have enough food in front of me to feed them all for a month."

Dilandau chuckled, thinking that she had made some manner of joke. "Don't worry Hitomi. None of it will go to waste. Everyone else on this levy ship will get to eat once we're through. I'll even let you take some to Van. I'm sure he's dying for some good food right about now." He laughed outrageously at his own sense of humor and looked at her seriously. "He may even be a little eager for companionship."

Hitomi blushed, not quite understanding what he meant. "I think that we've experienced my bad reaction to any company that tries to get too familiar," she said vaguely, thinking of Dallete, and wondering if Dilandau caught her meaning. "Especially when a certain someone goes accusing me of initiating said company." He smirked, and she assumed that he understood. "But it really has been awhile since I've seen Van."

"I told you, you had permission to see him as long as Jajuka went with you."

Hitomi shrugged. "I didn't find a great need to hunt him down while you were away. You might think about feeding him better," she offered. "You wouldn't want him to starve to death before he became of any sort of use to you."

Dilandau glared at her. "He can't starve to death if we're feeding him, no matter how meager the meal."

"Who's to say he eats anything anyway?" she asked him, all of her appetite now nonexistent. "How do you know he's not starving himself slowly to keep you from getting to him?"

Dilandau slammed his fists on the table and pointed toward the door. "You may go," he seethed, his whole body shaking with the thought.

Hitomi shrugged, not letting his rage bother her. He was too hypersensitive for his own good. She doubted that Van would end his life in such a way, if he would even think about the subject at all.

"It was hardly worth getting out of bed for this, just so you know," she announced to him as she walked out, and braced herself suddenly as a glass pitcher of milk shattered against the stone wall beside her.

She turned around slowly, not completely sure of her actions. Dilandau's chest was heaving as he attempted to calm down.

"That was uncalled for," she said, not letting her fear show.

"I. Said. Get. Out," he panted, barely able to restrain himself from acting rashly again.

As he watched her walk away, he almost felt bad. His anger faded and he slumped down into his chair. He let shaking hands pass over his face in agitation. Why was it, that he always managed to ruin any chances he had at making her happy?

He shook his head free from his thoughts. Her happiness shouldn't matter to him. The only thing that should of mattered was his victory in the war; his dominance over the rebels.

But then why did his thoughts keep turning back to what Hitomi might want? A dagger appeared from his boot and he threw it deftly at the largest chunk of the remaining pitcher, causing another eruption of glass. A maniacal grin crossed his face as he thought of what might become of Van if he were the target of Dilandau's knife.

A/N: I'm sorry if my writing seemed kind of out of it. It's been awhile, but I'm sure all of you knew that. I can tell you now that it will be awhile before the next chapter is out, but I ask that you remain patient. I'm sorry this chapter wasn't much longer than the others, but I did try. If anyone one has any suggestions as to what should happen in future chapters, I would gladly take them into consideration.


	25. Dilandau's Little Spy

-1A/N: Let's see how long this chapter takes to get posted. I am _such_ a slacker. But then again, I do have a job now and it takes a lot of my hours away. Too bad it's only at McDonalds. It doesn't help that college just started either.

**Chapter 25: Dilandau's Little Spy**

Laura jumped in fright when Hitomi slung her bedroom door open and stormed in, slamming it shut behind her.

"Back already?" she asked, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. A glance at the clock on the wall told her that it wasn't even five thirty.

"He's throwing another one of his hissy fits. He dismissed me before he did something irrational, but he still ended up throwing a pitcher of milk against the wall."

Laura gave an out of character snort, and went back to her task of making the bed. "His mood swings will be the death of us all one day. He's more fickle than the high class ladies in Emperor Dornkirk's palace."

The two women turned to face the door quickly as they heard someone clear their throat loudly at the open barrier and tap a fist against the wall. Laura bowed her head and exited the room when she received a nod of dismissal from Jajuka. Hitomi almost didn't see Shesta and Miguel behind him; the former holding a large platter of food and the later holding decent sized pitchers of wine and water.

"Lord Dilandau requests that you attend to Van Fanel, Lady Hitomi. You will make this a weekly task," Jajuka told her, ignoring the fact that Laura was giving him a suspicious look.

Hitomi glared at him.

"I refuse to be Dilandau's little spy. I doubt that I could get anything out of Van that he hasn't managed to get out of him already."

Jajuka turned, as if he wasn't even going to try to explain Dilandau's reasoning before he left.

"The object of this task is not to spy on the little King, merely to keep him company and make sure that he _is_ eating."

His voice was so soft that Hitomi hardly heard it. It was clear that he was confused by his master's actions. He left then, shaking his head in puzzlement. Shesta and Miguel looked after him, though they made no move to leave themselves.

"That's certainly generous of Lord Dilandau," Laura whispered to Hitomi, and it was clear that she hadn't meat for Shesta or Miguel to hear her.

"A little too generous as far as his usual tendencies are concerned, if you ask me," Hitomi muttered back, though she slowly made her way to the door. She hadn't seen Van for days. She supposed that it would be a pleasant change from Laura's company, and nice as it was to have her around to ease the stress of her constant guards.

**Dilandau**

"Was she pleased?" Dilandau asked, without looking up from the papers in front of him, the moment that Jajuka walked into his Lord's study.

Jajuka winced at the eagerness he heard in Dilandau's voice. It was highly unlike him to think of someone else's pleasure, especially when it came to a girl from some other planet.

"I'm not sure, My Lord," he answered honestly, standing at attention in front of the desk.

Dilandau still hadn't looked up from his papers, but he seemed to pause briefly as he pondered what Jajuka had just said.

"How can you not be sure?" he demanded, used to answers that were more straightforward.

Jajuka fought against the urge to shrug. That would be a gesture that Dilandau most certainly wouldn't appreciate. "She seemed more confused than anything, Lord Dilandau. She seemed certain that your only goal was to have her act as a spy to get information out of Fanel."

Dilandau snorted. "That would be a plus, but I don't see her changing her thoughts on the subject any time soon." He thought for a moment. "Perhaps she may let a few things slip on accident. That would be beneficial. Or she could tell the maid. You could get it out of the woman for sure."

Jajuka shook his head firmly. "I don't think so. They both seemed rather suspicious that you would be so generous to the prisoner. I admit that I myself am vaguely confused by this."

"Like I said," Dilandau snarled defensively, "It would be beneficial for the Zaibach Empire if the girl let anything important slip out."

He only hoped that Jajuka wouldn't question his motives any further. It wouldn't go well for him if his army started to think that the happiness of one girl was more important than the fight against the rebels. He was lucky. Jajuka stayed silent until Dilandau waved his hand in dismissal.

**Van**

Van jumped drowsily from his sleep as a clatter from the outside of his cell told him that the guards had been caught napping. He chuckled, and wondered vaguely who had caught them and what their punishment would be. He heard vaguely the ranting of Dallete, who still occupied the cell next to his.

His guards started yelling, and he could tell that it was no high-ranking officer that was standing outside. They sounded confused, as if they didn't understand why something was happening the way it was. He could hear someone's voice yelling back at them, threatening to get Lord Dilandau, no doubt. That silenced them, and he could hear the lock on his door click.

For a moment, he couldn't help but think that he was dreaming when he saw the triumphant face of Hitomi enter the cell. She was flanked by two of Dilandau's men, whom he couldn't name, but they merely laid down large platters of food and drink and left quickly.

"Where's Dilandau's little pet," he wanted to know, his voice cracking from disuse.

"You mean Jajuka? Apparently Dilandau is feeling so generous right now, that he decided that no one needs to supervise me when I come down to see you."

"And what's all this?" he croaked, gesturing to the food.

"Another little present from Dilandau. Apparently he thinks you may be starving yourself. I'm supposed to come see you weekly. He probably thinks that there's things you haven't told him; which means he thinks you tell me eventually and then I'll let it slip like some Chatty Cathy."

Van snorted. "I only wish that I has thought of starving myself. It's not like they've given me much to go on anyway." His mind drifted lazily from the food. His appetite had been cut a long time ago, and most of the sustenance before him didn't even make him blink twice. "I don't suppose you've heard anything about Allen and the Rebellion?"

Hitomi shook her head. "Not one little bit. Dilandau hasn't even whispered a word about the war around me. I'll let you know if I hear anything, though." She noticed that he hadn't eaten anything. "You ought to eat. I don't know how long Dilandau will keep up this little act."

Van shook his head. "I don't care about food. I've done worse in the midst of battle. Tell me what's been going on aboard this ship."

Hitomi told him everything and he looked disturbed. "He's not acting like himself."

"You honestly think that I haven't noticed? I haven't even known him very long, and I can tell there's been a drastic shift in personality. I can tell that all of his men sense it to. It's making them all nervous. We never know what he's going to do."

The door opened with a boom, causing both Van and Hitomi to jump.

"Dilandau says that your time is up, Lady Hitomi. He wishes to see you in his study as soon as you're finished saying your farewells."

It was all either of them could do not to laugh.

A/N: I know you all want to read more about Hitomi and Dilandau, and I know I'm a slacker because I didn't do a D/H scene in this chapter. I know I could have made it longer, but It's been almost three months and I wanted to give you something. I don't think the next chapter will come anytime soon due to college and the sorority, but I do promise that it will be about Dilandau and Hitomi together, okay? There's some major changes coming, and someone's idea is going to be used in some way, shape, or form. I love to hear ideas, so let me know what you've got! Thanks.


	26. You Don't Have A Choice

A/N: Okay. I know this chapter took forever to post since I had to rewrite practically the entire thing after my computer got attacked by a large # of viruses after my virus protection software started slacking, and that doesn't even take into consideration the sorority schedule and homework from my classes. At least you know now that I haven't died of some horrible disease or something. Thanks for your patience and I really hope that you all enjoy the chapter!!

**Chapter 26: You Don't Have A Choice**

Dilandau wasn't even in his study when Hitomi made her appearance. She stood impatiently waiting, trying her best not to tap her foot in annoyance, knowing that Jajuka would not appreciate the gesture.

"I thought he was supposed to meet with me?" she asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"He is, Lady Hitomi. Please don't think me rude, but you must understand that he has other duties that have nothing to do with you."

Hitomi knew that he didn't intend to come off as cruel, but he did none the less. She scowled and turned away from the dog-man in disgust.

"I still think that it's rude to make an appointment and be late. I hope that he shows up soon."

"Do forgive me," Dilandau said snidely as he walked through the door of his study and waved a hand of dismissal at Jajuka. "Emperor Dornkirk and Lord Folken have plans that require my current attention."

"I hate tardiness," she mumbled, not caring if he heard her or not.

"What have you to report about Fanel?"

Hitomi scoffed and shook her head. "Absolutely nothing. Obviously he's not going to tell me anything important. When are you going to figure that out? We hardly even know each other. Do expect to hear some rumor about Allen getting through to him with secret communications? You're being ridiculous."

Dilandau shuffled through heaps of papers on his desk. "Hitomi, when it comes to war, there is no such thing as being ridiculous. You have to understand that in a situation like this, one has to pay close attention to every little detail. And one way or another, I will get Van Fanel to give me every little detail that he knows about Allen's damn rebellion." His voice had raised significantly by the end of his speel.

"Have you ever thought that maybe Van doesn't know anything? How do you know what is relationship with Allen is anyway? They could hate each other for all you know."

For a moment Dilandau appeared thoughtful. "I hadn't thought of that. Be sure to look into that next time you meet with Fanel. If that's the case, perhaps I can convince Allen to do something stupid if he thinks Fanel has turned on them."

Hitomi's jaw dropped, and it took her a moment to regain her composure. "I'll be sure to tell him as much when I speak with him next. You are absolutely despicable."

Dilandau laughed so hard that it looked like he was in pain. "You are quite amusing Hitomi." He appeared thoughtful. "Perhaps Lord Folken and Emperor Dornkirk would be in much the same frame of mind. I'll have to have you accompany me to the Zaibach Empire's political dinner. They would be pleased to see that I finally found someone to bring to such a function."

"I think not," Hitomi stated boldly, having to desire to accompany Dilandau anywhere in public. "I would probably embarrass myself and you beyond repair and I would want to go home even more than I do at this particular moment."

Dilandau took a moment to belt out another laugh. "Of course I wouldn't allow that to happen. I'll be sure to have your maid fill you in on all of the important information that you'll need to know before tomorrow."

"TOMORROW? The dinner is TOMORROW?"

"Well of course. Why else would The Emperor and Lord Folken have this much of my attention during the war? No one with any sort of importance would dream of missing this event without any sort of permission from Emperor Dornkirk. The thought is absolutely ridiculous."

"I'm not going. Absolutely not. I won't do it." Hitomi would have continued her protests, but Dilandau froze her with a cold stare.

"Hitomi, you don't have a choice. The dinner is tomorrow at eight. You'll be expected to be ready by 7:30 so that we have time to reach the castle by carriage once the ship lands."

"But that gives me less than twenty four hours to learn everything! I'll never be able to remember anything that quickly!"

Dilandau didn't appear moved at all. "Then I suggest that you get started right now so that you can learn as much as possible. You're dismissed."

Hitomi found her way back to her room in a stupor. Laura was already waiting for her,

holding the oldest and dustiest tomb of a book that Hitomi had ever seen in her life. The pages were so yellowed that she thought they would turn to dust the moment that Laura attempted to turn them.

"I've been instructed to teach you the ways of a Zaibach lady. In less than twenty four hours. Whatever is the reason for such a task, Lady Hitomi?"

Her words made Hitomi's head hurt and she began to scowl. "Lord Dilandau is forcing me to go to the Ziabach Empire's Political Dinner with him tomorrow night. I tried to tell him that I would only embarrass myself but he didn't listen to me. There's no way that I'm getting out of this."

Laura looked very impressed. "That's the biggest dinner of the year. You'll have to learn to dance for the ball afterwards as well."

Now Hitomi was absolutely mortified. "DANCING? He never said ANYTHING about any _dancing_. How could he DO this to me? I'm a _runner_, not a _dancer_. I've never danced a single step in my life!"

"Well, my Lady, I'll just have to teach you how to dance while I'm teaching you the ways of a Zaibach Lady."

"I'm going to be awake for days," Hitomi sobbed. "I like my sleep. I need my sleep. I don't want to lose any sleep over this!"

"Well you're going to have to, because there is a lot to learn and very little time to do it. You can sleep for a bit before the Dinner, but you'll have to stay awake for the whole thing…or at least until Lord Dilandau is dismissed by the Emperor or Lord Folken."

"Fabulous. I can't believe my luck. This is _horrible!_ I just want to go home, sleep in my own bed, and not worry about wars, and politics, and dinners, and crazy Lords."

"No time to moan about it. Sit down. We'll start with etiquette, then we'll move on to dancing, and work our way back to the proper ways to address the different levels of nobility. Goodness, I'll have to be sure to get a guest list so that I can teach you the who's who of the Zaibach nobility. It wouldn't do to have you ignorant of our leaders."

"Great. I don't see why Dilandau just can't find some other girl to escort to this stupid affair. I'm sure there are girls who would be so much more excited than I am."

"Actually, you'll be the first Lady that he's going to escort the any Empire affair. Usually he only stays as long as he's required. Now thought, he may decide to stay longer. You should actually feel quite lucky."

"But I don't. I'm probably going to get myself on some sort of hit list or something because I offend one delegate or another."

"Ridiculous. You just have to have faith in yourself. No let's get to work! The clock is ticking!"

A/N: So that's that. It's not as long as I was hoping, but at least you know that I'm not dead. The next chapter should be pretty exciting, but it will probably be awhile before it's up. I'm really excited about it though, so please keep reading! Read and review.


	27. It's Madness

A/N: Oh wondrous readers I have returned to thee with the 27th installment of this glorious little fic of mine! Interesting things are starting to come about, wouldn't you say? But this isn't the chapter I was so excited about. That would be the next one, I guess. I'm not that great at guessing when things will come about. I just know that the D/H scenario will start to heat up soon and this chapter is the gate way. So in that case, ON WITH THE SHOW!

**Chapter 27: It's Madness**

Hitomi's head with swirling and she could hardly keep her eyes open. All she wanted to do was lay down and forget about common dance steps and why one had to address a baron differently than a duke. Her head hurt from all of this information; so much so that all she wanted to do was take some Tylenol and sleep for days on end.

"No dozing off yet, Lady Hitomi. We've still got a long way to go," Laura prompted, waving a hand in front of Hitomi's face.

Hitomi attempted to shake herself awake, but wasn't very successful. She still felt the desperate urge to pass out. She hadn't felt this terrible since her time in the dungeons. "I'm sorry. I've never had to stay awake this late. What time is it?"

"I'd say that it's just about one in the morning. Who is second in command only to the Emperor himself?"

"I honestly can't even remember right now. That's how tired I am. I would just like to know how someone like Dilandau can go off to war duty for a week, and then come back and suddenly have all of his attention focused on some sort of fancy dinner."

"Well think about it, my Lady. Politics is what develops war. A kingdom needs allies to help support their war efforts, and the only way they can find an ally is through extensive dealings in politics. This dinner will make sure that Zaibach and her allies really understand that we are doing well in the war, and we want our allies to be happy. When our allies are happy, we have more resources for war."

"Actually, it is my firm belief that war is caused by a nation's want for more wealth and more power. While it may relate to politics, politics will not be the only basis for a country's actions. The people's will has to take some effect."

Laura blinked at her. "Solid as that thought may be, you need to realize that not everyone has the same opinion. As a Lady you'll have to do your best to keep your opinions to yourself. It wouldn't do if you offended someone above Lord Dilandau."

"Well seeing as I'm this tired I think that Dilandau will have to worry more about a scenario that deals with me passing out rather than a scenario where I'm being mouthy to whoever usurps his authority."

"I feel so much better," Laura said, looking through giant book of tortures, though she sounded more sarcastic than anything. "Since you can't seem to concentrate of political figures at the moment, let's work on your dancing."

Frankly, Hitomi didn't feel like standing, let alone dancing by herself with guards outside the door to listen to Laura's every criticizing word. "But it's so awkward dancing by myself!" she protested, hoping that it would work.

Laura thought for a moment. "You're right, Lady Hitomi."

Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief and slouched a little, expecting Laura to return to political figures and diplomacy. Instead she walked to the door and tore it open. Hitomi looked absolutely horrified as Laura sized up the two guards outside of the door, clearly trying to decide which one she was going to address.

"You," she said, nodding to the one on the left of the door. "Come in here please. Lady Hitomi requires your assistance."

"But I was told not to leave my post," he proclaimed. It was clear that he hadn't had many run-ins with Dilandau.

"Sir," Laura said, taking on a serious tone, "come in here this instant. Unless of course," she paused as if to think of a suitable situation that would make him agree to help them, "you would like us to summon Lord Dilandau and ask his special permission for you to help us continue to carry out his orders." The young soldier gulped and stepped quickly inside the room while his partner stepped to the middle of the door frame to cover both of their positions. "Thank you."

"What are we doing?" Hitomi asked, eyeing the soldier. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of needing his assistance with anything.

"Learning to dance. You said you felt awkward dancing by yourself. Now the problem is solved." Laura turned back to the soldier. "You do know how to dance don't you?"

"Of course," he said, with another nervous gulp.

"Then you'll be practicing with Lady Hitomi. Make sure she learns how to follow the lead properly, or some noble will claim she's trying to lead him around."

"But I don't want to dance with people I don't know either! That's probably even more awkward than dancing on my own."

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing that you're going to practice with him," Laura told Hitomi, pushing the guard toward her and forcing them to take up the dance position for a waltz . "That way it won't be so awkward. You'll have to dance with any noble to whom Dilandau gives his permission otherwise they'll be quite offended. I'm afraid you don't have much say in the matter."

"I'm going to die of embarrassment I just know it, Laura. And then I'll NEVER see my family again no matter what I do."

"Lady Hitomi, you're being overly dramatic. Now Start Practicing.

"I'm exhausted Laura. I need a break!" Hitomi complained, hours later. Having perfected the waltz, foxtrot, and tango, as well as she could in such a short amount of time, she felt that she was quite entitled to some time on her own.

Laura checked the time and found that it was nearly six in the morning.

"Alright Lady Hitomi, I'll give you an hour to get a bit of rest and find something to eat. Then we'll get back to work until noon or so, at which time you can sleep for a few hours before we start getting you ready to leave. Does that sound agreeable?"

"I suppose so. I just wish that it involved more time for me to sleep. I'm not a very pleasant person when I'm tired."

"We have ways to make sure that you're entirely focused on what you're doing. Now move along before you run out of time.

**Dilandau**

"How do you think she's doing, Jajuka?" Dilandau asked in a bark. He was pacing back and forth across his office while the dog-man waited just inside of the door.

"I'm sure that she's doing just fine my Lord. I see no reason why Lady Hitomi shouldn't learn everything quickly. If you would prefer, I can go check in with her maid and make sure that her progress is satisfactory."

"NO!" Dilandau stated abruptly. He stopped pacing and turned to face the window. "They don't have time for interruptions. If she's doing well it would interrupt her focus. If she's not…" he trailed off, not sure that he wanted to finish.

"It would be less time for her to learn as much as possible either way," Jajuka said, hoping to reassure his master. "I'll leave them to their business. Is there anything that I can do for you, Lord Dilandau?"

Dilandau shook his head and waved a dismissal. "You've done enough. Check back in a few hours. I'll summon you if I need you before then."

Jajuka bowed his way out, leaving Dilandau to his worries. The albino quickly began to wonder what it was that had possessed him.

"They'll think I'm crazy," he thought out loud to himself. "At least Emperor Dornkirk will. He still doesn't understand the whole power-spot problem. Maybe seeing her with his own eyes will help him to solve the problem. But then again, Folken has probably helped him enough as it is. But then again, they would have informed me of any discoveries. I'm surprised they haven't had to say much about the rebels lately. Perhaps they've given up, and the power spot is no longer an issue. But I suppose in that case, they would have informed us all to stand down. Oh I can see how this will be an interesting night."

**Allen**

"Millerna you can't possibly be thinking of this! It's madness! Dangerous, even! Think of what could happen!"

"Nothing horrible is going to happen, Allen. Father merely thinks that I'm going to accompany him to the Zaibach State Dinner to make sure that he looks after his health. It's the perfect way to get a spy in. They have no idea that I'm involved in the rebellion. They think I haven't spoken to you since you had the rebels moved. They still think they've won. I'm the only one who can get information out of this without getting killed. They would never harm a princess of an ally country."

"I still don't like it," Allen hissed. "What if you give something away? They might figure out you're working with us, and we're still a major problem that they're going to have to deal with. We don't have the man power for another battle yet! We're still trying to get everything sorted it with all of our allies! Do you know how many we still have to convince to help us?"

"Allen I'm not going to destroy everything we've worked for in one night. I won't mention a word about any sort of rebels. Not even from the past. Anything I hear, I will only listen too. I'll pretend that I'm not even interested in the conversation. There's nothing to worry about. I'll be careful. I'll stay with Father as much as possible. And don't even think about sending any of your men in to guard me secretly. That would only give us away if any of them were caught, and the last thing we need is to lose more men. We need to start thinking of Astoria's alliance with Zaibach as a good thing. It gives us a good opportunity to get as much information as possible."

Allen let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. But you have to be careful. Report back here as soon as you can get away without being noticed."

"Don't I always?" the princess asked.


	28. She Certainly Seems Charming

A/N: Bet you weren't expecting an update this soon, huh? It's been less than two weeks. We have some interesting things that are coming about in this chapter. I'm also really excited to know that this is probably my longest chapter yet! Still, I know it's not as long as some of my readers would like, but let's just see what happens in this chapter, shall we?

**Chapter 28: She Certainly Seems Charming**

All Hitomi could do was stare at her reflection once Laura had finished her work. She didn't even look like herself! It was almost ridiculous how over-done she looked, but Laura assured her that this was the most popular look with the Zaibach ladies.

She'd never worn a dress like this before! It fanned out around her, hemmed with white lace. The dress itself was an aqua color that set of her green eyes nicely. The waistline hugged close to her body, fanning out almost like a bell. The sleeves were cap style, falling away from her shoulders, and made from the same white lace that hemmed the skirt.

"You look lovely, Lady Hitomi. I just wish that I had been able to do more with your hair."

"It's fine. The nobles will just have to deal with it not being in fashion. I don't mind wearing it just like I do every day. At least I won't feel too overwhelmed. The dress itself is just a bit more than what I'm used to."

"I think Lord Dilandau will be very pleased with your progress, Lady Hitomi."

"Well he can bite me if he's not, because I worked my ass off and so did you."

Laura scowled. "That isn't appropriate language for a lady. You will have to watch the things you say. Remember that nobles can be easily offended. They can be very fickle in their feelings, so you have to be careful."

"Fickle in feelings? I never would have guessed," Hitomi muttered sarcastically. When Laura gave her a reproachful look she added, "Don't worry Laura. I'll be careful."

Laura quickly checked the time. "You'll have to meet Lord Dilandau any minuet."

Hitomi thought for a moment. "I think I'd like to see King Van before we leave for the dinner."

Laura looked worried. "You can't be late. Lord Dilandau wouldn't like that at all."

"I won't be late. I'll only be a minute. Dilandau will barely have time to wonder where I am. The thought won't even cross his mind, I promise."

"Hurry!" was all Laura had left to say on the matter.

**Van**

Van was shocked to see Hitomi, not to mention her choice of her attire. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his nerves starting to twitch as he waited for what she had to say.

"What makes you automatically assume that something is wrong?" Hitomi demanded, just slightly irritated due to her lack of sleep.

"Your visit just seems a little out of the ordinary," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, as he pointed to her dress.

"I wanted to see you before we left for the Zaibach State Dinner. We're leaving soon. I only have a few minutes."

Vans eyes widened in surprise. "Dilandau is taking you to the state dinner? As a guest?"

Hitomi nodded. "I've been up for hours trying to memorize everything everyone else there has had a lifetime to learn."

"This could be good for us!" The excitement in his voice made Hitomi cringe unconsciously.

"I don't think I see your point, Van. What's the big deal about it?"

"There will be delegates from almost every country. My family used to go to that same dinner before the war started."

"I still don't get it."

"Princess Millerna will be there with her father. If Astoria is an ally of Zaibach, their presence will be pretty much mandatory. You need to talk to her, if you can get away from Dilandau."

"I wouldn't know what to say without giving away the rebellion, or getting you killed."

"Tell her I'm still alive. That would be a good start. Then get as much information as possible for me. Find out what you can about the rebellion. It's been painful not knowing."

"But if Dilandau finds out that I told you something, he'll kill you if you don't tell him. Hell, he'll probably be ready to kill me if he finds out I'm the one who's giving you information."

"If we want the rebellion to succeed, and if we want to know what's going on, then it will be worth taking that risk. Zaibach has to be defeated. Tell her everything you know, if you can. And if you find a chance to escape from that psycho, you take it! Don't worry about getting information if you can't. Your safety is more important than that."

"I'll try, but it depends on if I can get away from Dilandau, and how long I can get away. I have to go. He'll be angry if we're late."

She didn't know how she felt on the topic of escape. On the one hand she wanted desperately to find a way home, but she didn't want to leave Van alone in Dilandau's hands.

"Just be careful," Van told her, his nerves causing him to shudder.

**Hitomi**

Dilandau was waiting when Hitomi arrived. He stopped pacing, and looked slightly irritated until he took a good look at Hitomi.

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long, Lord Dilandau," Hitomi said, remaining polite and vague.

"Not too long," he said, looking her up and down. "I suppose it would have been worth the wait if I had been waiting for awhile. Come on. The ship's landed and the carriage is waiting. We don't want to be late and miss our introduction."

Hitomi was surprised to find that she actually felt a little disappointed that Dilandau had said anything more on the subject of how well she cleaned up. She thought he should have at least said something more for Laura's benefit, if not for hers. It was Laura's doing that had made her look 'worth the wait'. Laura had taken time out of her schedule to teach her everything she would need to know. Laura had worked so hard, and Dilandau had barely said anything on the matter. She was half tempted to say something, but she decided against it at the last second. She would just have to prove how well Laura taught her when they arrived. Then maybe he would have a little more to say on the matter. On top of it all, she found herself wondering why his opinions on the subject really mattered at all.

The ride to Dornkirk's palace took place in some-what stony silence. Dilandau kept his body rigid and his arms crossed, looking like he was contemplating how to win the next battle in the ridiculous war that Zaibach was raging. Hitomi sat across from him, trying not to fall asleep and trying not to fidget in both nerves and boredom. The ride itself seemed to be going at the top speed of a snail, and she hoped that once they arrived, she wouldn't be quite as bored as she was now. But as they drew closer to the palace, it became more difficult for her to refrain from said fidgeting. The nerves were starting to overwhelm the boredom by a large margin, and Dilandau's silence wasn't doing anything to help.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the carriage lurched to a stop, and Hitomi barely managed to keep herself from being tossed into Dilandau's lap.

_That would have only been a little bit awkward_, she thought to herself as Dilandau opened the carriage door and jumped out. She could see that all of the nearby soldiers automatically jumped into a salute. The footman in charge of carriages attempted to shut the door as soon as Dilandau was out.

"Stop!" Dilandau barked. The footman did as he was told and Hitomi could see the sweat that began to appear on his brow the second that he realized there was someone else inside. "If you would help the Lady out before slamming the door in her face, that would be most appreciated." The words were polite, but Hitomi could hear the death threat in his tone and shuddered.

The footman gave a little bow and promptly helped her down from the carriage.

"Please forgive me, Lord Dilandau. We weren't expecting you to bring a guest and-"

Dilandau held up a hand to silence him and offered his arm to Hitomi. "I don't want to hear anymore from you. If we don't hurry we'll be late."

His voice still sounded harsh and Hitomi flinched as she took his offered arm. She barely touched him, not quite nervous enough to put a death grip on the man that was putting her through this ridiculous event.

They made it up the staircase without further incident, but Hitomi felt like passing out every time they were given shocked looks from the servants they passed. They walked down a long and narrow hall to the place where a few other nobles stood in line waiting for their introduction before they entered the ballroom.

"Why do they call it a state dinner if it has the atmosphere of a ball?" Hitomi asked, just to break the eerie silence that enveloped them. For awhile she thought Dilandau wasn't going to answer her.

"It's really not a ball at all. Balls are occasions for mere pleasure and are, for the most part, completely pointless. They aren't mandatory in any way, so I tend to avoid them. The state dinner is more for political advancement of alliances. Important political figures are required to be present, to keep everything in balance. I thought Laura would have told you something like that."

"Well we didn't have time to cover every little detail."

Hitomi tried her best to stay calm as they noble couple before them were introduced and descended the staircase in front of them. She found herself a little irritated that she'd walked up the staircase outside just to descend the one inside. She didn't have much time to think about it as the servant at the top of his stairs tapped the staff to silence the pattering of applause below. All of the attention was turned to Hitomi and Dilandau.

"Announcing Lord Dilandau of Zaibach escorting-" the man paused and blinked rapidly at the guest list in front of him. "Lady Hitomi of the Mystic Moon."

The crowed stayed silent as they began to descend the stairs to make their appearance in front of Emperor Dornkirk. Once they reached the plus red carpet at the bottom of the stairs the shock of the audience wore off and there was muted applause momentarily before the servant tapped his staff again and began to announce the next nobles coming through the door.

When they reached Dornkirk's throne, they made their bows. Dilandau also gave a salute to Folken, who was standing to Dornkirk's right. Both men looked vaguely amused; Dornkirk more so.

"An interesting choice, Dilandau," Dornkirk said, meaning his choice to bring Hitomi to the affair. "I suppose that this could be useful to us, somehow. We just don't see quite how yet, though you did shock everybody."

"You know how I like to be different, Emperor Dornkirk," Dilandau replied.

"Of course," he said, before he turned his attentions to Hitomi. "And what do you have to say about Zaibach's jack of all trades?"

Hitomi almost couldn't stop the laughter from breaking out of her. Dilandau was their jack of all trades? She found it a little ridiculous, given his tendency for mood swings. She kept her eyes down, refusing to look Dornkirk or Folken in the eye.

"In my experience I've found that a jack of all trades is a master of none." She couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth, and though it was true, she struggled to add something that would make it seem like a compliment instead of something offensive. She could see that Dilandau had gone tense. "But Lord Dilandau seems to be the one exception that I've come across," she added lightly.

Dornkirk chuckled lightly. "Well she certainly seems charming, Dilandau. You are both dismissed."

They made another set of quick bows before moving off to the side to mill among the crowd before dinner was announced. Hitomi was hardly paying attention when she heard the next names called from the guest list.

"Announcing the arrival of King Aston of Astoria and his daughter, the Princess Millerna."

The applause for their arrival was loud, and Hitomi's ears buzzed. How was she going to get away from Dilandau to talk to her? She had to think of something before the night was over. She _needed_ to talk to Millerna!

"That could have been handled better," Dilandau was muttering, but Hitomi was much too preoccupied to care.

When dinner was announced, the crows waited as Dornkirk slowly made his way to the dining room, where he took his seat at the head of the table. In Zaibach customs, ladies sat on one side of the table, while their escorts sat across from them. Dilandau was in the middle of helping Hitomi to take her seat when she realized that Millerna was only seated four ladies to her right, near Dornkirk's right hand. She was so close it was aggravating, and she couldn't think of how to get any sort of message to the princess without being obvious.

She wasn't sure if it was luck or something else when Millerna noticed her looking her way. The princess's eyes widened in surprise to see her there, at a Zaibach affair of all places. Hitomi gave her a weak smile before turning to thank Dilandau for helping her to her seat.

Except for introducing herself to the ladies on either side of her when they took the liberty to tell her who they were, she stayed quiet throughout the whole meal. The men across the table discussed politics, the ladies near her all discussing meaningless gossip about people she didn't know. She found it all rather pointless and thus had nothing to contribute, save a few smiles when the ladies next to her looked her way. She fought the urge to jump out of her skin every time a servant appeared over her shoulder to place the next course in front of her.

After at least two hours, though it certainly felt like more to Hitomi, Dornkirk stood and raised his hands to gain the attention of his guests. They all fell silent and gave him their full attention.

"Friends," he started, sounding rather tired, "our meal has come to an end. I realize that some of you may have other obligations, and thus I hope you have a safe trip home. But for those of you who would accompany for a longer period of time, I ask that we adjourn to the ballroom." He stood and began to make his way slowly out of the room.

The men stood and the ladies waited for their escorts to help them from their seats to follow Dornkirk to the ballroom.

"How are you feeling, Hitomi?" Dilandau asked as he led her out of the room, and she feared for a moment that they were going to leave and she wouldn't get a chance to speak to Millerna.

"A little restless, from sitting so long with ladies I don't know." She answered honestly, and prayed to God that Dilandau didn't think she was being rude. He chuckled a bit, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I would probably have felt the same way, being stuck between the two most self obsessed ladies known to the Zaibach nation. It's nothing a little dancing won't cure. Though I admit, that I'm really not much of a dancer."

"You shouldn't worry too much," Hitomi said as she stared out across the dance floor of the room they had just entered. "I've been dancing for a lot less time than you have. And I haven't had much opportunity to practice." She watched as couples began to glide gracefully across the floor.

"Then I suppose tonight will be as good a time as any for you to get some practice in for future events."

Hitomi's heart sped up in a nervous patter. The last thing she wanted to think about was the possibility that she would be forced to attend more of these affairs. As far as she could tell, they bored her to death, and the thought of stepping on other people's feet, namely Dilandau's, really didn't help to make the thought any more appealing.

"Lord Dilandau!"

The voice came from behind them, and both Hitomi and Dilandau turned to find out who was addressing him. Both of them gave bows when they realized that it was King Aston coming towards them.

"May I help you with something in particular, Highness?" Dilandau asking, sounding polite, if not slightly put out.

"I should say not, Dilandau. My daughter merely insisted that it would be most polite to speak to the leader of our ally's Dragon Slayers. I thought that she was correct in that assumption."

Hitomi would have kissed Millerna on the spot if it wouldn't have been completely obvious something was up.

"Father, I think I shall indulge to have a conversation with Lady Hitomi. I wouldn't want to impose on anything you would say to Lord Dilandau. And her homeland does seem rather interesting."

"Of course," Aston said, not really paying any attention. "That is, if Dilandau doesn't mind if his lady steps away for a moment."

Dilandau looked a little doubtful. "I suppose that would be fine, as long as you don't steal her away for long," he told the princess.

He gave a maniacal grin that made Hitomi fight the urge to shudder as Millerna nodded her thanks and led Hitomi out of hearing distance of Dilandau and her father.

"Hitomi we've been so worried about you and Van!" Millerna started the moment they were a safe distance away. "Where is Van? Is he alright?"

"Van is in the dungeons. He's still alive, but Dilandau threatens him all the time. He says he'll kill him if he doesn't give information about the rebellion, but he doesn't know anything else. Now he's trying to use me as a spy, but even if Van did know something, it's not like I would have a reason to give anything away."

"Surely you jest!" Millerna said with a light laugh, as a slightly drunk Earl wobbled by with his wife. "Hitomi that's awful! And what possessed Dilandau to bring you here tonight?" she asked, once the Earl was out of earshot.

"I have no clue. He's treating me like some kind of guest. He lets me wander the castle without and guards, but keeps Van locked up like some kind of animal. I'm sure the only reason he's not dead is because his brother is Folken. It's ridiculous, and some days I just wish he'd kill me or let me find my way home."

"I've never heard of anything like it," Millerna answered, more than a little confused.

"And what's happened to the rebels? Van's been dying to know."

"We've moved their location to Van's kingdom. The ruins make great cover. No one thinks to go there. I'm afraid I don't have as much contact with them as I'd like. Father would have me hanged if he knew I was involved with our ally's enemy."

"But everyone is safe?"

"Yes. We even-" She stopped when she saw King Aston and Dilandau approaching. "Fascinating. I've never heard of anything like it. How do you manage here?"

"Well, it's very different," she answered as Dilandau took her arm.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything important, Millerna," Aston said, though it was clear that he didn't really care if they had.

"Not at all. Lady Hitomi was just telling me a little about the Mystic Moon. It seems very different."

Hitomi thought she may have imagined Dilandau's rather jealous look in the Princess's direction.

"Hitomi, we haven't been able to dance yet. Would you do me the honor of joining me on the dance floor for a waltz?"

Hitomi didn't really think she had a choice. She nodded and took the hand he offered her. At least it was a waltz, and not something a little more complicated. He led her to the dance floor, which really wasn't that far away. They reached the floor and took a starting position just as the conductor of the orchestra tapped his baton on his music stand and raised his arms to begin. Hitomi was starting to find that she was having trouble breathing. The last thing she wanted to do was screw this up royally. And that would be just her luck.

Dilandau adjusted their form slightly so they would be more balanced. It wasn't very encouraging for her, as it meant that it was just one thing that she'd already messed up.

"Don't be so tense. Just breathe and remember to change weight when you move. It will be a lot easier to lead you around the floor if you don't pass out on me."

"Well I feel a lot better now," she told him sarcastically.

She took a deep breath and then no longer had any time to think about doing anything wrong. They were moving, and for some reason she thought they were moving a little too quickly for a waltz, but hell, what did she know? She couldn't even think straight right now. It didn't help that Dilandau was looking at her with a gaze so intense it was the most intimidating thing she'd ever encountered. And that even topped the first day they'd met, which in her opinion, was rather hard to do.

Hitomi's head was starting to spin. She wasn't sure if it was Dilandau's excessive spinning, which she deemed as showing off, or something else. She knew she couldn't possibly be drunk. She hadn't even had any alcohol. She thought they were starting to slow down. She could swear that people were staring at them. She wished they would stop. They weren't helping her settle her thoughts down. Her head wouldn't stop spinning. She really wished that it would.

Dilandau still hadn't stopped staring at her. It really was intimidating. She wished that would stop as well, but somehow show got the feeling that a lot of things weren't going to stop just because she wanted them to.

Dilandau also hadn't said anything to her since the waltz had started. She thought maybe he was concentrating on leading the dance. It couldn't be easy leading someone who knew next to nothing about dance. But then again, if you were a good dancer you were supposed to be able to lead anyone who knew at least _something_.

Random thoughts really weren't helping her spinning head. Hell, they were probably part of the reason it was spinning. That, and she could tell she was getting extremely dizzy. She hadn't expected the song to be quite this long.

"Hitomi," Dilandau finally said, looking concerned, "are you alright? You look a little confused."

Hitomi blinked, making an attempt to clear the spinning figures out of her peripheral vision. It wasn't working. "I'm ok. I'm just getting really dizzy with all of this spinning. I can't believe drunk people can do this without falling over."

She hadn't been trying to make a joke. She'd been completely serious. Even so, Dilandau let out a round of rough laughter, causing the couple dancing closest to them to jump and fall out of rhythm.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," she blurted out. Dilandau didn't lose a beat.

"Of course not," he said. "You were just so serious that I couldn't help it. We nobles have had plenty of practice. Practice makes perfect. Whether you're doing something while you're drunk or sober, practice really pays off." It was Hitomi's turn to laugh.

"That makes no sense. I think that you may be a little drunk yourself." She hoped he wouldn't take it seriously. She honestly couldn't smell the slightest hint of alcohol on his breath, even though he'd had at least two glasses of wine during dinner.

Her partner shrugged, and brought the dance to an end as the orchestra faded into silence. "I might be, but I would tell you if I was."

"Why? Eventually it would be obvious."

Dilandau pushed her away from him and looked her in the eye as the orchestra prepared to start up again. "Because then I would have an excuse to do this."

Hitomi hardly had time to think before his lips landed squarely on hers. She pushed him away, not sure how to feel, aside from the obvious confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe to apologize for being so bold, but Hitomi didn't get the chance to find out.

At that moment a group of soldiers burst through the doors to the ballroom, causing everyone to drop into a dead silence. Surely there had to be a good reason for such an intrusion by the military.

"We need to evacuate the palace and get all present soldiers into battle formation. There's been a rebel attack."

A/N: So there's that chapter for you. I hoped you liked it! Leave me a review and let me know. I'll be sure that I have the next chapter posted relatively soon, though I'm not really sure how soon that will be. It could be at least a month, but at least I gave you some things to mull over!


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